Gina Rodriguez joins the cast as a series regular beginning with Will Trent season three episode one. The third season premiere, “I’m a Guest Here,” will air on ABC on Tuesday, January 7, 2025 at 8pm ET/PT.
Ramón Rodríguez leads the cast as the titular character. Erika Christensen stars as Angie Polaski, Iantha Richardson is Faith Mitchell, Jake McLaughlin is Michael Ormewood, and Sonja Sohn is Amanda Wagner. Gina Rodriguez joins the cast as Marion Alba for season three.
“I’m a Guest Here” Plot: When two off-duty cops are wounded, the GBI must track down Special Agent Will Trent, who recently fled town to help solve the case. As the investigation unfolds, Will is drawn into his past to clear a friend’s name amid rivalries and corruption.
Ramon Rodriguez in ‘Will Trent’ season 3 episode 1 (Disney/Daniel Delgado Jr.)
Will Trent Series Description, Courtesy of ABC:
Based on Karin Slaughter’s New York Times bestselling Will Trent series, Special Agent Will Trent of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) was abandoned at birth and endured a harsh coming-of-age in Atlanta’s overwhelmed foster care system. Now, Will uses his unique point of view in the pursuit of justice and has the highest clearance rate in the GBI.
Douglas Smith and Jake McLaughlin in season 3 episode 1 (Disney/Daniel Delgado Jr.)Cora Lu Tran in the season 3 premiere (Disney/Daniel Delgado Jr.)Iantha Richardson, Sonja Sohn, and Olivia Denise Dawson in season 3 episode 1 (Disney/Daniel Delgado Jr.)Douglas Smith and Jake McLaughlin in season 3 episode 1 (Disney/Daniel Delgado Jr.)
Will #Chenford be a thing in season seven of ABC’s The Rookie? The synopsis for season seven episode one, “The Shot,” doesn’t address the couple, but it does confirm two new rookies are joining the team. However, a 15-second promo for the new season (embedded below) is driving #Chenford fans crazy.
The seventh season premieres on Tuesday, January 7, 2025 at 10pm ET/PT immediately following a new episode of High Potential.
The cast is led by Nathan Fillion as John Nolan. Season seven stars Mekia Cox as Nyla Harper, Alyssa Diaz as Angela Lopez, Richard T. Jones as Sergeant Wade Grey, Melissa O’Neil as Lucy Chen, Eric Winter as Tim Bradford, Jenna Dewan as Bailey Nune, Shawn Ashmore as Wesley Evers, and Lisseth Chavez as Celina Juarez. Deric Augustine and Patrick Keleher recur as Miles and Seth.
“The Shot” Plot: Now recovering from a gunshot wound and feeling the effects of his age, John and the team welcome two new rookies and continue the hunt for two dangerous inmates with very personal vendettas following their prison escape.
Lisseth Chavez and Nathan Fillion in ‘The Rookie’ season 7 episode 1 (Disney/Mike Taing)Mekia Cox and Richard T Jones in the season 7 premiere (Disney/Mike Taing)Ivan Hernandez in season 7 episode 1 (Disney/Mike Taing)Alyssa Diaz in “The Shot” episode (Disney/Mike Taing)Mekia Cox and Alyssa Diaz in season 7’s premiere (Disney/Mike Taing)Mekia Cox and Richard T Jones in season 7 episode 1 (Disney/Mike Taing)
Director and co-writer Tim Fehlbaum’s September 5 examines the horrifying events of September 5, 1972, when terrorists took 11 Israeli athletes competing in the Munich Olympics hostage. Previous feature films and documentaries have covered the subject, but never from the perspective of the ABC Sports team assigned to cover the competition.
The ABC Sports team was not prepared for the near-instantaneous switchover from heralding athletic achievements in the ring, pool, and on the track to covering a terrorist attack live on air. And how could they have been? No network had ever been in their position before. The ’72 Olympics marked the first-ever live broadcast via satellite around the globe. The network stationed cameras throughout the Olympic venues, the Olympic Village, and atop the Olympic Tower to provide complete, round-the-clock coverage. Nothing would be missed.
Coordinating producer Geoff Mason (John Magaro) was preparing for his first time overseeing live coverage with the B unit when the first shots were fired. Neither producer Marvin Bader (Ben Chaplin) nor President of ABC Sports Roone Arledge (Peter Sarsgaard) wanted Geoff in charge as they attempted to determine how to cover the developing situation. The job fell to him by default when no one with more experience was available. And Geoff became laser-focused on providing the audience with the best coverage possible as the devastating events unfolded. (ABC’s ’72 Olympics coverage earned four Emmy nominations and two wins.)
Roone Arledge negotiated behind the scenes to claim more satellite time and refused to hand the story over to the news department in New York. Why give over coverage when the sports team was 100 feet away from the action? As events in the Olympic Village escalated, decisions were being made in the broadcast booth that would change how networks covered breaking news moving forward.
Arledge’s decision meant his team covering the Olympics had to think outside the box. They also had to consider the unthinkable: can they show someone being shot live on camera? It was quickly apparent that the Germans did not comprehend the gravity of the situation. The host country was showcasing how much they’d evolved since Hitler was in charge. They hoped to dispel any lingering doubts about the country’s progress when, suddenly, the local police were put in charge of negotiating a peaceful resolution to an unprecedented situation. (A law forbids the German army from intervening.)
As the hours ticked by, circumstances forced the ABC Sports team to think about how their coverage hampered the police rescue mission because the terrorists could see their movements live on television. Their actions in ’72 laid the groundwork for what’s still considered off-limits during live coverage today.
Tim Fehlbaum assembled a top-notch cast and crew to bring this riveting story to life. Peter Sarsgaard, John Magaro, and Ben Chaplin are outstanding as Roone, Geoff, and Marvin, the key figures who provide most of the actual insight into how decisions were made quickly on the fly as the situation developed. Their short, occasionally heated debates over how to show the world the attack feel so genuine that you forget this is based on real events with a known outcome.
Benjamin Walker’s terrific as Peter Jennings, the sole reporter with experience covering the news. (Jennings had already served as a foreign correspondent and established the first American news bureau in Beirut by the time of the Munich Olympics). In one memorable scene, Jennings warns his colleagues not to use the term “terrorist” lightly. Walker’s take on the well-respected journalist hits the right marks, presenting Jennings as maintaining his composure throughout the harrowing events.
September 5 shows Jennings and a cameraman embedded across the street from the apartment of the Israeli athletes and describing events as they went down. The film uses archival footage of Jim McKay anchoring the broadcast, interviewing witnesses, and tossing to Jennings for his eyewitness accounts. It’s a brilliant use of the existing footage integrated into the story. Fehlbaum’s extensive research into ABC Sports’ actual control room during the Munich Olympics makes the archival footage with McKay appear contemporaneously shot with the film.
September 5 showcases McKay’s incredible work during his 16 hours behind the desk. McKay’s words as he informed the viewers of the tragic outcome were gut-wrenching in ’72 and hit just as hard in the 2024 film: “When I was a kid, my father used to say, ‘Our greatest hopes and our worst fears are seldom realized.’ Our worst fears have been realized tonight. They have now said that there were 11 hostages. Two were killed in their rooms. Nine others were killed at the airport tonight. They’re all gone.”
One pivotal character in the film, German translator Marianne Gebhardt, played by The Teacher’s Lounge‘s Leonie Benesch, is an amalgamation of real people. Co-writers Fehlbaum, Moritz Binder, and Alex David inserted Marianne as an important player in obtaining key information as the only person employed by ABC Sports’ control room who speaks German. Benesch portrays Marianne as a largely unassuming individual whose contributions remain unnoticed until the Black September attack on Israeli athletes. Only then does her position as interpreter grudgingly receive any respect. In the first hours of the attack, she’s forced to retrieve coffee for her male co-workers and speak to her country’s Nazi history. Benesch’s performance isn’t flashy, yet it’s incredibly effective in showing how she endures disrespect until her co-workers recognize that she’s integral to their coverage of the attack.
September 5 is singularly focused on the ABC Sports team’s actions from start to finish of the attack. The action rarely shifts outside the building housing the control room, and when it does, it mostly appears as footage on a monitor. The terrorist group Black September’s motivations are not discussed. The characters’ personal lives aren’t mentioned. The editing is tight, the dialogue is crisp, and the tension progressively builds as September 5 heads to the devastating end of the terrorist attack.
That September 5 keeps the audience on the edge of their seats is a real accomplishment. That it does so while exploring the ethical and moral dilemmas news crews face makes it one of the best films about journalists.
GRADE: A
MPAA Rating: R for language
Running Time: 1 hour 34 minutes
Release Date: December 13, 2024 limited, January 17, 2025 wide
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Writer/director Osgood Perkins (Longlegs) has a twisted way of spreading Christmas cheer, releasing a new clip from The Monkey as a gift to horror fans. The nearly four-minute clip finds a woman awakened from a sound sleep, convinced someone’s inside her house. Grabbing a gun, the unfortunate woman falls victim to a series of escalating accidents that ends with her running outside, head engulfed in flames.
Perkins cuts off the clip before she meets her untimely end. However, from the looks of it, she’s about to encounter the pointing end of a wooden sign.
The horror film based on Stephen King’s short story stars Theo James (The White Lotus), Tatiana Maslany (She–Hulk: Attorney at Law), Elijah Wood (Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency), and Christian Convery (Sweet Tooth). Colin O’Brien (Wonka), Rohan Campbell (The Hardy Boys), and Sarah Levy (Schitt’s Creek) also star.
“When twin brothers Hal and Bill (played by Theo James in later years, Christian Convery plays the younger twins) discover their father’s old monkey toy in the attic, a series of gruesome deaths starts occurring all around them. The brothers decide to throw the monkey away and move on with their lives, growing apart over the years,” reads Neon’s synopsis. “But when the mysterious deaths begin again, the brothers must reunite to find a way to destroy the monkey for good before it takes the lives of everyone close to them.”
Atomic Monster’s James Wan and Michael Clear, C2 Motion Picture Group’s Dave Caplan, Range Select’s Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, and Odd Fellows’ Chris Ferguson serve as producers. Executive producers include Range’s Fred Berger, Stars Collective’s Peter Luo and Nancy Xu, and John Friedberg for Black Bear.
Neon is releasing The Monkey in theaters on February 21, 2025.
Guardians of the Galaxy‘s Chris Pratt and Stranger Things‘ Millie Bobby Brown explore the world of rebellious robots in the trailer for The Electric State, a sci-fi adventure from Joe and Anthony Russo (Avengers: Endgame). Based on Simon Stålenhag’s graphic novel, The Electric State takes place in an alternate version of the 1990s, after a failed robot uprising.
In addition to Chris Pratt and Millie Bobby Brown, the film stars Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All at Once), Stanley Tucci (Conclave), Jason Alexander (Seinfeld), Giancarlo Esposito (Megalopolis), and Woody Norman (The Last Voyage of the Demeter). Woody Harrelson (Suncoast), Anthony Mackie (Captain America: Brave New World), Brian Cox (Succession), and Jenny Slate (Marcel the Shell with Shoes On) provide voices of the robots.
Netflix picked up the project back in June 2022 and has set a March 14, 2025 premiere date.
“Millie Bobby Brown stars as Michelle, an orphaned teenager navigating life in a society where sentient robots resembling cartoons and mascots, who once served peacefully among humans, now live in exile following a failed uprising. Everything Michelle thinks she knows about the world is upended one night when she’s visited by Cosmo, a sweet, mysterious robot who appears to be controlled by Christopher — Michelle’s genius younger brother whom she thought was dead,” reads Netflix’s synopsis.
“Determined to find the beloved sibling she thought she had lost, Michelle sets out across the American southwest with Cosmo, and soon finds herself reluctantly joining forces with Keats (Chris Pratt), a low-rent smuggler, and his wisecracking robot sidekick, Herman (voiced by Anthony Mackie). As they venture into the Exclusion Zone, a walled-off corner in the desert where robots now exist on their own, Keats and Michelle find a strange, colorful group of new animatronic allies — and begin to learn that the forces behind Christopher’s disappearance are more sinister than they ever expected.”
Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely adapted Stålenhag’s graphic novel. In an interview with Netflix’s Tudum, Stålenhag lent his support to the finished film. “I’m blown away by the movie,” said Stålenhag. “It was an amazing experience watching things that I have drawn come to life this way. What resonated most with me was the emotional core of the movie, which is the need for family. Even though the movie has changed genre from the book a bit, that main core is still the same and has been expanded on beautifully.”
Denis Leary (The Moodys) headlines Fox’s new comedy series Going Dutch, premiering on January 2, 2025 at 9:30pm ET/PT. Leary stars as a U.S. Army Colonel assigned to take over a base in the Netherlands.
The season one cast also includes Taylor Misiak as Captain Maggie Quinn, Danny Pudi as XO Major Abraham Shah, Laci Mosely as Sergeant Dana Conway, and Hal Cumpston as Corporal Elias Papadakis. Joe Morton, Catherine Tate, and Dempsey Bryk appear in heavily recurring roles.
“Pilot” Plot: The Colonel is reassigned to take emergency command of USAG Stroopsdorf in the Netherlands, a small and combat-less base, as punishment for his unfiltered rant about General Davidson. Upon arrival, Sergeant Conway provides The Colonel and Major Shah with a tour of the things Stroopsdorf is known for: cheese, laundry, and bowling. The Colonel demands to know who is in charge and is introduced to Captain Quinn, his estranged daughter. Captain Quinn briefs The Colonel and Major Shah on her upcoming and crucial operation of the soldiers marching in the town’s Tulip Festival.
The arrogant, loudmouth U.S. Army Colonel Patrick Quinn — after an epically unfiltered rant — is reassigned to the Netherlands, where he is punished with a command position at the least important army base in the world, notable for its Michelin Star-commissary, top-notch bowling alley, lavender-infused laundry and the best (and only) fromagerie in the U.S. Armed Forces. Surrounded by a diverse group of military misfits, the colonel tries to reinstate discipline and professionalism with the help of the base’s previous interim leader, who just happens to be his estranged daughter.
Cobra Kai never dies, but the series has to wrap up sometime – and that sometime is February 13, 2025. Part one of the show’s sixth and final season premiered on July 18, 2024, followed by part two on November 28, 2024. Part three’s release date announcement was accompanied by a teaser trailer and new photos.
The Karate Kid franchise will carry on with a new movie, Karate Kid: Legends, releasing in May 2025.
The cast is led by Ralph Macchio as Daniel LaRusso and William Zabka as Johnny Lawrence. Martin Kove plays John Kreese, Thomas Ian Griffith is Terry Silver, Xolo Maridueña stars as Miguel Diaz, Jacob Bertrand is Hawk, Mary Mouser is Samantha LaRusso, and Tanner Buchanan plays Robby Keene. Peyton List stars as Tory, Gianni Decenzo is Demetri, Courtney Henggeler is Amanda LaRusso, Vanessa Rubio is Carmen, and Dallas Dupree Young plays Kenny.
Rounding out the ensemble are Yuji Okumoto as Chozen, Alicia Hannah-Kim as Sensei Kim Dae-Un, Griffin Santopietro as Anthony, Oona O’Brien as Devon, Rayna Vallandingham as Zara, Patrick Luwis as Axel, and Lewis Tan as Sensei Wolf.
“After a shocking result in the Sekai Taikai, Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai must reckon with their pasts while facing an uncertain future both on and off the mat,” reads Netflix’s synopsis. “Almost 40 years after the events of the 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament, it’s all been leading to this.”
Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg guide the series as showrunners, writers, and executive producers. Additional executive producers include Ralph Macchio, William Zabka, Will Smith, James Lassiter, Caleeb Pinkett, and Susan Ekins.
Adam Pearson and Sebastian Stan in ‘A Different Man’ (Photo Credit: Matt Infante / Courtesy of A2)
Ah, the year is coming to a close. And with that comes the obligatory year-end top 10 list. So here are the top 10 movies of 2024 according to me, James Jay Edwards. Remember – this is my list and does not claim to reflect the opinions of anyone else.
10 – A Different Man
As a fan of Adam Pearson’s, I was thrilled to see him in a role he could really sink his teeth into. Bonus points to writer/director Aaron Schimberg for including a scene that addresses the question of representation vs. exploitation.
(Irish musical biopic Kneecap is sort of a 10.5 here. On any given day, it could flip spots with A Different Man.)
Colman Domingo in ‘Sing Sing’ (Photo Credit: A24)
9 – Sing Sing
A movie about the transformational power of the theater in the most unlikely of places – a prison. Sing Sing reeks of authenticity, not only because many of the characters are played by actual formerly incarcerated men, but it was based on the story of prison theater alumni Clarence Maclin, who portrays himself in the film.
Demi Moore in ‘The Substance’ (Photo Credit: MUBI)
8 – The Substance
At first, The Substance is just a scathing indictment of consumerism and the shallowness of celebrity. But as it moves on, it turns into a full-blown Cronenbergian nightmare. And if it wasn’t a schlocky horror movie, Demi Moore’s performance would win all the awards. And it still might win some of them.
A still from ‘Flow’ (Photo Credit: Janus Films)
7 – Flow Flow is this year’s Robot Dreams. And I loved Robot Dreams. Flow is a sweet little animated movie about a cat and a bunch of their furry and feathered companions that have to navigate through a catastrophic flood. It’s a Latvian film, but that doesn’t matter much because, just as with Robot Dreams (which was Spanish), there’s no dialogue. Just beautiful visual storytelling.
Maika Monroe stars in ‘Longlegs’ (Photo Credit: Neon)
6 – Longlegs Longlegs is what you get when you sprinkle a little of the occult into The Silence of the Lambs, add Nicolas Cage in a creepy transformative villain role, and set it to the music of T-Rex. Slim and weak, the teeth of the Hydra upon you indeed.
Cailee Spaeny and Kirsten Dunst in ‘Civil War’ (Photo Credit: Courtesy of A24)
5 – Civil War
Due to recent events in the U.S., Civil War may be more prescient now than it was when it was released back in April. Kudos to writer/director Alex Garland (who is, incidentally, English) for never letting the movie pick a side. It tells the story of the war itself without letting the politics get in the way.
Katy O’Brian and Kristen Stewart in ‘Love Lies Bleeding’ (Photo Credit: Anna Kooris / A24)
4 – Love Lies Bleeding
Not only does Love Lies Bleeding re-affirm Kristen Stewart as one of the best actors of her generation, but it also continues to keep audiences hungry for whatever director Rose Glass does next. Proving that action star Katy O’Brian can also act is just icing on the cake.
Ariana DeBose in ‘I.S.S’ (Photo Credit: Bleecker Street)
3 – I.S.S. ISS raises the stakes on the contained thriller genre. Six astronauts – three American and three Russian (so really three astronauts and three cosmonauts) – are aboard the International Space Station when a nuclear war breaks out between their countries. Who to trust, who to trust?
2 – Nosferatu
Robert Eggers is a meticulous filmmaker, so it’s no surprise that Nosferatu is such a beautiful movie. It is a bit surprising that it breathes fresh life into a story that is over 100 years old. It’s both modern and classic at the same time. And Willem Dafoe aping over the old Dracula motif is never not fun.
A scene from ‘Strange Darling’ (Photo credit: Magenta Light Studios)
1 – Strange Darling Strange Darling is one of those movies that just came out of nowhere blew me away. It’s about a serial killer’s last few murders…and that’s all you should know going in. It’s packed full of twists and surprises. And it’s even more fun the second time around after you already know its secrets.
Manifest‘s Melissa Roxburgh stars in NBC’s new midseason crime drama The Hunting Party. Debuting on February 3, 2025 at 10pm ET/PT, the new series finds Roxburgh leading a team who’ve been charged with finding escaped murderers.
Season one also stars Nick Wechsler (Shades of Blue) as Oliver Odell, Patrick Sabongui (The Flash) as Ryan Hassani, Josh McKenzie (La Brea) as Shane Florence, and Sara Garcia (Ride) as Jennifer Morales. JJ Bailey created the series and serves as a writer, executive producer, and co-showrunner with Jake Coburn.
Thor Freudenthal directs and executive produces, with Keto Shimizu writing and executive producing.
Poster for ‘The Hunting Party’ (Photo by: NBCUniversal)
NBC offers this description of the new series:
“This dynamic and suspenseful thrill ride of a crime procedural follows a small team of investigators led by former FBI profiler Rebecca ‘Bex’ Henderson (Roxburgh). They’ve been assembled to track down and capture the most dangerous serial killers the world has ever seen, all of whom have just escaped from the Pit, a top-secret government prison that’s not supposed to exist. As Bex races to catch these killers before it’s too late, she’ll discover the one thing more twisted than the dangerous fugitives she’s chasing is the prison itself that they just escaped from, because the Pit wasn’t just a prison.”
Sara Garcia as Jennifer Morales and Melissa Roxburgh in season 1 (Photo by: David Astorga/NBC)Melissa Roxburgh as Rebecca Henderson (Photo by: David Astorga/NBC)Patrick Sabongui as Jacob Hassani and Melissa Roxburgh as Rebecca Henderson (Photo by: David Astorga/NBC)
Investigation Discovery (ID) delves back into Hollywood’s dark side with season three of Death by Fame. The new season will premiere on January 13, 2025, with new episodes of the eight-episode season airing on Mondays at 9pm ET/PT.
Season two examined the murder of Judging Amy‘s Tara Correa-McMullen, Run-D.M.C.’s Jam Master Jay (real name: Jason William Mizell), and lawyer-turned-legal reality star Loredana Nesci. Season three dives into the murders of aspiring actress Adriana Pinon, aspiring model Mei Li, fashion designer to the stars Sylvie Cachay, and Valerie Dowden.
Poster for ‘Death by Fame’ (Photo Credit: ID)
“The series delves into the dark side of fame and celebrity, uncovering the shocking true stories behind the murders of some of Hollywood’s most promising stars. Each episode features the expertise of criminal trial attorney Sara Azari, who provides unique insights into these tragic endings. This season, viewers can look forward to eight gripping episodes that chart the rise, fall and untimely deaths of budding talent whose promising futures were cut short,” reads ID’s synopsis. “Through interviews with victims’ families, friends, investigators and journalists along with Sara Azari’s expert commentary, each episode sheds light on a shadowy world lurking behind the pursuit of fame.
In the season premiere, aspiring actress Adriana Pinon is thrilled to land a recurring role as a background actor on the hit soap opera The Young and The Restless. It’s the perfect stepping stone for her dream career. However, her rising star is abruptly extinguished when a jealous individual decides they cannot bear to see her succeed.”
