Tenet might end up being the movie that defines cinema in 2020. Unfortunately, that won’t be related to its artistic merits. Christopher Nolan’s big budget time-bending action tale was supposed to be one of the marquee releases of the year. Warner Bros. put an enormous amount of money into promoting it. Then, even more in re-promoting it multiple times, as the studio repeatedly pushed the film’s release back a few weeks—even while it was clear theaters weren’t going to be opening anytime soon. Eventually it did come out—to predictably low box office returns in the US. The fallout of that decision might be felt for years, something Nolan himself is furious about.
But lost in all of the inside baseball talk is how good Tenet really is as a movie. But soon viewers everywhere will get a chance to safely find out for themselves, with the film’s upcoming home release. If you’re unsure if you still want to watch, though, you can whet your blockbuster appetite with the film’s first six minutes which is available for free online right now.
Warner Bros. has released Tenet‘s “Prologue” (which we first heard about at EW). The opening sequence is a high-octane false flag attack on an arena. John David Washington’s “Protagonist” is part of a secret group that knows the real reason for the phony terrorist attack, which is targeting one of their undercover men.
The scene raises more questions than it answers, including: how time “inversion” is possible, who is using it, and why is Washington’s character so important. So, you know, basically the most Christopher Nolan opening possible.
Warner Bros.
I liked this scene and it makes me want to see what happens next. Will everyone agree with me? Will the movie be able to live up to this great opening scene? And is there anyway it will have been worth the wait and aggravation to finally see it? The great thing is it doesn’t matter what the answers are to any of those. It’s just nice we’ll be able to discuss the film for what it is, rather than for when and how it was being released.
Tenet comes to 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray & digital on December 15.
COVID-19 has yet again claimed the life of a Black legend.
Charley Pride, the nation’s first Black country music superstar, passed away on Saturday at age 86.
The “Kiss An Angel Good Mornin” singer died in Dallas, Texas, due to complications from COVID-19, according to his publicist, Jeremy Westby.
Pride released dozens of albums and sold more than 25 million records, all while making it to the top of the country charts 29 times in his career. Pride’s first single, 1967’s “Just Between You and Me,” broke into the Top 10 on country charts and garnered Pride his first Grammy nomination. What sets him apart from so many artists — especially Black artists in the country genre — is that he sings stories rich with honesty: “I Can’t Believe That You’ve Stopped Loving Me,” “I’m Just Me” and “Where Do I Put Her Memory,” among others.
The Country Music Association has issued a statement, since his death comes just a month after he appeared at the CMA Awards.
Loading the player...
“Everyone affiliated with the CMA Awards followed strict testing protocols outlined by the city health department and unions. Charley was tested prior to traveling to Nashville,” they wrote. “He was tested upon landing in Nashville, and again on show day, with all tests coming back negative. After returning to Texas following the CMA Awards, Charley again tested negative multiple times. All of us in the Country Music community are heartbroken by Charley’s passing. Out of respect for his family during their grieving period, we will not be commenting on this further.”
“To say Country Music has lost a trailblazer is an obvious understatement, but in fact one of the biggest losses is Charley’s definitive Country voice,” continued Sarah Trahern, Country Music Association CEO. “I remember working with Charley in 2009 on ‘Country Music: In Performance at the White House’ when President and Michelle Obama invited several Country artists to perform. He was a trailblazer in so many ways. It was a special night and Charley was telling amazing stories. Our deepest condolences go out to his wife Rozene and the rest of his family and friends at this sad time.”
Pride made his final public appearance at the ceremony on Nov. 11, during which he performed and was honored with the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award.
Our thoughts and prayers are with his loved ones during this time.
Here’s what we reviewed in comics this week that you might want to check out:
Captain Marvel #24
Everything dark and sinister about this issue comes out at night and things get real interesting. The reveal of Evo’s mother is shocking but much more troubling than anything else. The “treasures” that Evo has hidden up his sleeve are tragic and deadly, and we haven’t even see the full truth of what is going on.
At first glance, Heroes at Home #1 seems as trite and goofy as your typical after-school cartoon, and your first glance would be spot-on correct. But after a year of turbulent, sometimes outright bizarre current events, old school goofy is the right kind of laughter to pull out of the audience. It’s corny but in an “all ages” sort of way like your favorite superheroes doing timely, somewhat transparent skits about the issue of the week on Saturday Night Live.
Given Watters’ pedigree as a horror-adjacent writer with Lucifer and Wijngaard’s previous work on Thunderbolt, it’s not too vexing that the two have been able to come together to weave a tale of how a member of a punk band managed to get involved with the afterlife, but it is surprising just how well everything flows.
Origins #2 continues the two-pronged narrative of David and Chloe between the “Now” in the distant, distant future and the “Then” of the not-quite as distance future. Chapman does provide a concrete 989-year time difference between the two framing device which does accentuate how the circumstances have somehow grown more dire since the original technological apocalypse.
There is a predictability that is slowly formulating in the series where it’s obvious that the villains are one step ahead of the heroes, which is somewhat belied by the format and framing of the story. That said, it’s so incredibly well executed that even though I can predict the beats, the way we’re getting there is so engrossing that I’m willing to overlook some of the flaws.
Conveniently, Scott, Jean and Cable’s recent commandeering of S.W.O.R.D.’s abandoned space station was all they needed to begin shooting for the stars. Now we follow a key member of the Quiet Council to find out exactly what this new division is about.
This Flashpoint issue explores what would have happened if Barry succeeded in getting struck twice by lighting, but it killed him rather than giving him his Flash powers. And in the wake of his death, The Reverse Flash comes in and takes his place, navigating the Flashpoint world that we’ve come to know with unlimited power.
It’s get in, get out, in the truest fashion. And because the book is a whopping 80 pages, there are so many talented names, known and unknown, putting their own spin of the holiday spirit on these beloved characters. There were three stories that stuck out to me and will probably stick with me for the foreseeable future.