Michiel Huisman and Luke Evans in ‘Echo 3’ (Photo Courtesy of Apple TV+)
Luke Evans, Michiel Huisman, and Jessica Ann Collins star in Apple TV+’s new action thriller Echo 3, premiering on Wednesday, November 23, 2022. The series, which comes from Oscar winner Mark Boal (The Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty), involves the search for a missing scientist, played by Collins.
“I’m honored to collaborate with the team at AppleTV+ who gave me the opportunity to make the series I wanted to make – one that feels big and purposeful and refuses to stay in any lane,” stated Boal. “This is a black-ops thriller and tale of international intrigue, set in Colombia, a country I had known only from afar and immediately fell in love with.”
Mark Boal shot the series in Columbia and serves as showrunner and executive producer. Additional executive producers include Keshet Studios’ Peter Traugott, Jason Horwitch, Omri Givon, Eitan Mansuri, Jonathan Doweck, Mark Sourian, Avi Nir, Alon Shtruzman, and Karni Ziv. Boal and executive producer Pablo Trapero are the season one directors.
The premiere date announcement was accompanied by the first photos from the action series which is based on Omri Givon’s When Heroes Fly. Givon’s series, inspired by Amir Gutfreund’s novel, aired in 2018 and was nominated for six Israeli Television Academy awards, winning one.
In addition to Luke Evans, Michiel Huisman, and Jessica Ann Collins, the series’ cast includes Martina Gusman, James Udom, Maria Del Rosario, Alejandro Furth, Juan Pablo Raba, and Bradley Whitford.
Michiel Huisman and Luke Evans in ‘Echo 3’ (Photo Courtesy of Apple TV+)
Apple TV+ offered the following description of the 10 episode season:
Echo 3 is an action-packed thriller set in South America that follows Amber Chesborough (Collins), a brilliant young scientist who is the emotional heart of a small American family. When Amber goes missing along the Colombia-Venezuela border, her brother, Bambi (Evans), and her husband, Prince (Huisman) – two men with deep military experience and complicated pasts – struggle to find her in a layered personal drama, set against the explosive backdrop of a secret war.
Luke Evans in episode 3 (Photo Courtesy of Apple TV+)Jessica Ann Collins in episode 1 (Photo Courtesy of Apple TV+)Jessica Ann Collins in episode 3 (Photo Courtesy of Apple TV+)
Russell Crowe and Zac Efron in Apple Original Film’s ‘The Greatest Beer Run Ever’
Military care packages are usually made up of useful items soldiers deployed overseas can use, such as sunblock, underwear, socks, and other personal supplies. The care packages are a way of letting the soldiers know that someone from home is thinking about them. In 1967, Chickie Donohue didn’t just send a care package to his buddies from his old neighborhood serving in Vietnam. Chickie traveled to the war-torn country personally to hand-deliver beer from their favorite NY bar.
The story of his trip to Vietnam and the impact his up-close-and-personal experience with war had on his view of the conflict is told in Apple Original Films’ The Greatest Beer Run Ever.
The film starts with Chickie (Zac Efron), a Merchant Marine, drinking with some of his buddies at Doc Fiddler’s bar in Inwood, New York, when he gets the news that another young man from their block has been killed while serving in Vietnam. The next day, Chickie spots his sister participating in an anti-war protest and argues with her that she’s turning her back on all their friends over in Vietnam.
Later that day, Chickie receives word that his best friend has gone MIA.
Commiserating over beers at the bar, Doc (Bill Murray) – nicknamed The Colonel – says he wishes he could go to Vietnam and give all the boys over there beers. Chickie, upset and a little drunk, declares that’s exactly what he’s going to do. He’ll go to Vietnam, find his friends, and hand them beers.
Doc, excited at the prospect of letting the guys know they support them, gives Chickie a duffel bag and plenty of beers to take to the troops.
Chickie puts his rudimentary plan into action and obtains a job in the boiler room of a shipping vessel heading to Saigon. Once there, Chickie lies to the captain about delivering bad news from home to his brother and gets a 3-day leave. Off the ship, Chickie uses his natural, likable charm to make his way onto a base to disperse beer to his friend, Tommy Collins (Archie Renaux), and Tommy’s buddies. He’s obviously a civilian and because he’s dressed casually, some of the military brass mistake Chickie for “a tourist,” which is code for a CIA agent.
Chickie uses this innocent deception and misinterpretation to help him travel to unauthorized areas, including battlefields and hot zones.
During his travels, he comes across seasoned war correspondent Arthur Coates (Russell Crowe) who initially dismisses him as some well-meaning but dumb American. However, eventually, Coates becomes intrigued by Chickie’s mission and respects his determination. Chickie and Arthur strike up both a friendship/partnership as Arthur covers the horrors of the Vietnam War and helps Chickie dodge bullets and run from bombs as he continues his quest to deliver beer to his friends from home.
Directed by Peter Farrelly (Green Book), The Greatest Beer Run Ever is a heartfelt, inspiring, and surprisingly funny film that not only tells an incredible – almost unbelievable – story but captures the turning tide and split in America as people began to take sides both for and against the war. It’s a Vietnam War dramedy about friendship, loyalty, and the end of American innocence.
Zac Efron gives a fine performance as Chickie, a likable, goodhearted underachiever who truly just wants to show his friends in Vietnam that the neighborhood hasn’t forgotten them and still believes in their mission. Efron is convincing at showing the slow realization on Chickie’s part of what war really is, a realization that only comes after he experiences first-hand some of the true horrors his friends and the people of the country are going through.
Russell Crowe is perfectly cast as Arthur, the tough, grizzled war correspondent who takes a liking to Chickie and helps him during part of his quest. Arthur also remains by his side as Chickie struggles to get out of the war-torn country when the situation becomes dire and the odds of exiting the country grow worse. Crowe and Efron have solid chemistry and their brief friendship feels genuine.
The production and costumes perfectly reflect the decade and bring to life Vietnam in 1967 just before the Tet offensive. The soundtrack’s use of classic ’60s songs effectively enhances the mood and tone of certain scenes.
The only real issue with the film is its tone, which at times is a little uneven when switching between some of the more humorous scenes to the more serious and dangerous scenes. It’s not always a smooth transition.
Still, with strong performances, stellar production design and costumes, The Greatest Beer Run Ever is a crowd-pleasing, smile-inducing film that doesn’t glorify war but does deliver insight into what soldiers went through in Vietnam.
GRADE: B
MPAA Rating: R for language and some war violence
Running Time: 2 hours 6 minutes
Release Date: September 30, 2022 in theaters and streaming on Apple TV+
CBS’s new primetime drama So Help Me Todd‘s premiere set up the dysfunctional relationship between Todd, a disgraced private detective, and his mom, Margaret, a talented lawyer. Season one episode two – “Co-Pilot” – finds the two reluctantly working together. Directed by Michael Spiller from a script by Scott Prendergast, episode two airs on Thursday, October 6, 2022 at 9pm ET/PT.
Oscar winner Marcia Gay Harden stars as Margaret Wright, Skylar Astin plays Todd Wright, and Tristen J. Winger is Lyle. Madeline Wise plays Allison, Inga Schlingmann is Susan, and Rosa Arredondo stars as Francey.
“Co-Pilot” Plot: Margaret and Todd work two seemingly unrelated cases, only to discover a key piece of information in the details of Todd’s humorously boring civil case could help Margaret’s high-profile client.
Hiro Kanagawa, Clayton James, Thomas Cadrot, Artemis Litsiadis, Sunita Prasad, and Shawn Ahmed guest star.
Marcia Gay Harden and Skylar Astin star as razor-sharp, meticulous attorney Margaret Wright (Harden) and Todd (Astin), her talented but scruffy, aimless son whom she hires as her law firm’s in-house investigator. As the black sheep of the well-heeled Wright family, Todd is a laidback, quick-thinking, excellent former private detective who fell on hard times after his flexible interpretation of the law got his license revoked. Margaret’s penchant for excellence and strict adherence to the law is at complete odds with Todd’s scrappy methods of finding his way through sticky situations: by the seat of his wrinkled pants.
When Todd inadvertently teams with his mother on a case, she’s surprised to find herself duly impressed by – and proud of – his crafty ability to sleuth out information with his charm and his wide-ranging tech savvy. At last, Margaret sees a way to put her son on a “suitable” path to living an adult, financially solvent life she approves of, and she asks him to join her firm. Todd agrees since it means getting his license back and once again doing the job he excels at and loves.
Mother and son working together is a big first step toward mending their fragile, dysfunctional relationship, and they may even come away with a better understanding of each other at this pivotal point in their lives. But whether Todd and Margaret will be able to accept each other for who they are is another case entirely.
CBS’s Ghosts kicked off season two with an episode that found Sam and Jay finally officially opening their bed & breakfast. Unfortunately, their first paying guests had a track history of leaving negative Yelp reviews. Fortunately, the ghosts were able to alert Sam to potential problems. Next up, season two episode two – “Alberta’s Podcast” – airing on Thursday, October 6, 2022 at 8:30pm ET/PT.
Rose McIver and Utkarsh Ambudkar return as Samantha and Jay, the living residents of the mansion. Reprising their roles as the resident ghosts are Brandon Scott Jones as Isaac, Richie Moriarty as Pete, Danielle Pinnock as Alberta, and Asher Grodman as Trevor. Román Zaragoza stars as Sasappis, Sheila Carrasco plays Flower, Rebecca Wisocky is Hetty, and Devan Chandler Long plays Thorfinn.
“Alberta’s Podcast” Plot: Sam decides to host a podcast exploring the mystery surrounding Alberta’s death. Also, Hetty develops an unusual relationship with a broken washing machine.
Ghosts is a single-camera comedy about Samantha and Jay, a cheerful freelance journalist and up-and-coming chef from the city, respectively, who threw both caution and money to the wind when they decide to convert a huge rundown country estate they inherited into a bed & breakfast – only to find it was inhabited by the many spirits of deceased residents who now call it home.
The departed souls are a close-knit, eclectic group that includes a saucy Prohibition-era lounge singer (Pinnock); a pompous 18th-century militiaman (Jones); a ‘60s hippie fond of hallucinogens (Carrasco); an overly upbeat ‘80s scout troop leader (Moriarty); a cod-obsessed Viking explorer from 1009 (Devon Chandler Long); a slick ‘90s finance bro (Grodman); a sarcastic and witty native from the 16th-century (Zaragoza); and a society woman and wife of a 19th-century robber baron who is Samantha’s ancestor (isocky), to name a few.
The opening of the B&B is a source of intrigue, anxiety, and curiosity among the spirits, but they’ll gladly put up with the commotion as long as they can continue to interact with a living inhabitant – Samantha.
Rosanna Arquette guest stars in ABC’s Big Sky season three episode three playing Jenny’s estranged mom. Episode two confirmed the creepy loner in the woods is Sunny’s son and ended by teasing one half of the arguing couple is likely a murderer.
Episode three, “A Brief History of Crime,” will air on Wednesday, October 5, 2022 at 10pm ET/PT.
Season three stars Katheryn Winnick as Jenny Hoyt, Kylie Bunbury as Cassie Dewell, Jensen Ackles as Sheriff Beau Arlen, Dedee Pfeiffer as Denise, and J. Anthony Pena as Deputy Mo Poppernak. Reba McEntire guest stars as Sunny Barnes, Luke Mitchell plays Cormac Barnes, Rex Linn is Buck Barnes, and Seth Gabel plays Walter.
“A Brief History of Crime” Plot: While investigating a scamming operation with Beau, Jenny discovers a connection to the crime that sends her reeling. Elsewhere, a camper at Sunny Day Excursions has gone missing, and Beau’s similarly stubborn daughter, Emily, is eager to solve the case. Yet, with Sunny determined to cover up loose ends, her digging might lead to more than she bargained for in the end.
As all this and the hunt for the missing backpacker continue, Cassie and Denise run into a strange man on the side of the road who may just lead them down a new path.
Dedee Pfeiffer and Kylie Bunbury in ‘Big Sky’ season 3 episode 3 (ABC/Michael Moriatis)
Big Sky Season 3 Description, Courtesy of ABC:
Private detective Cassie Dewell, undersheriff Jenny Hoyt, and newly appointed sheriff Beau Arlen maintain order in Helena, Montana, with their unparalleled investigative skills. But when a local backcountry trip led by charismatic outfitter Sunny Barnes goes awry, the trio faces their most formidable mystery yet – in which no camper can be trusted and where danger lurks around every jagged rock and gnarled tree.
Rosanna Arquette in season 3 episode 3 (ABC/Michael Moriatis)Dedee Pfeiffer and Kylie Bunbury in season 3 episode 3 (ABC/Michael Moriatis)Reba McEntire in season 3 episode 3 (ABC/Michael Moriatis)Kylie Bunbury in season 3 episode 3 (ABC/Michael Moriatis)Jamie-Lynn Sigler and Ryan O’Nan in season 3 episode 3 (ABC/Michael Moriatis)
Justin Theroux in Apple TV+’s ‘The Mosquito Coast’ season 2
Apple TV+’s fall 2022 lineup will include new seasons of Slow Horses, The Mosquito Coast, Little America, and Mythic Quest. The streaming service just announced the premiere dates for the returning series, along with debuting new photos and plot details.
The Mosquito Coast season two starring Justin Theroux debuts on November 4th and Slow Horses with Gary Oldman returns for a second season on December 2nd. Season two of Little America arrives on December 9th, and Mythic Quest season three starring Wrexham Football Club co-owner Rob McElhenney premieres on November 11th.
THE MOSQUITO COAST Season 2 – November 4, 2022
Based on Paul Theroux’s best-selling novel, The Mosquito Coast follows the dangerous journey of Allie Fox, a brilliant inventor and stubborn idealist, who uproots his family on a dangerous quest to find refuge from the U.S. government, cartels, and hitmen. In season two, after barely escaping Mexico with their lives, the Foxes venture deep into the Guatemalan jungle to meet up with an old friend and her community of refugees.
This new refuge creates trouble for the Foxes though when they become entangled in a conflict between a local drug lord and his family. At odds about whether to settle down or keep moving, Allie and Margot pursue different paths to secure their family’s future. The outcome of which will either unite the family or tear it apart forever.
The Mosquito Coast season two will premiere with the first episode, followed by one new episode weekly through January 6, 2023.
Charlotte Nicdao and Rob McElhenney in ‘Mythic Quest’ season 3 (Photo Credit: Apple TV+)
MYTHIC QUEST Season 3 – November 11, 2022
Returning for its highly anticipated 10-episode third season this fall, Mythic Quest is the workplace comedy from creators Rob McElhenney, Charlie Day, and Megan Ganz that follows a group of video game developers tasked with building worlds, molding heroes and creating legends, but the most hard-fought battles don’t occur in the game — they happen in the office.
In season three, as Ian and Poppy navigate the gaming world and their partnership at the newly formed GrimPop Studios, Dana is forced to play mediator to her bosses’ incessant bickering. Back at Mythic Quest, David settles into his new role as the boss where he truly finds himself in charge for the first time with Jo returning as his assistant — more loyal and militant than ever; and Carol attempts to figure out where she fits in after a new promotion. At Berkeley, Rachel struggles to balance her morals with capitalism, while a post-prison Brad tries to return to society as a reformed man.
Mythic Quest season three will premiere with the first two episodes on Friday, November 11, followed by one new episode weekly through January 6, 2023.
Gary Oldman in ‘Slow Horses’ season 2 (Photo Credit: Apple TV+)
SLOW HORSES Season 2 – December 2, 2022
Following its first season, Apple’s hit espionage series Slow Horses was renewed for a two-season order, with new seasons set to be adapted from the next two novels in the CWA Gold Dagger award-winning Mick Herron series Slough House.
Starring Academy Award winner Gary Oldman, Slow Horses season two is directed by Jeremy Lovering and finds long-buried Cold War secrets emerge which threaten to bring carnage to the streets of London. When a liaison with Russian villains takes a fatal turn, our hapless heroes must overcome their individual failings and raise their spy game in a race to prevent a catastrophic incident.
Slow Horses is a darkly humorous espionage drama that follows a dysfunctional team of British intelligence agents who serve in a dumping-ground department of MI5 known un-affectionately as Slough House. Oldman stars as Jackson Lamb, the brilliant but irascible leader of the spies, who end up in Slough House due to their career-ending mistakes as they frequently find themselves blundering around the smoke and mirrors of the espionage world.
The ensemble cast includes Academy Award nominee Kristin Scott Thomas, BAFTA Scotland Award winner Jack Lowden, Saskia Reeves, Rosalind Eleazar, Christopher Chung, Freddie Fox, Chris Reilly, Samuel West, Sophie Okonedo, Aimee-Ffion Edwards, Kadiff Kirwan, and Academy Award nominee Jonathan Pryce.
Season two will premiere with two episodes followed by one new episode weekly, every Friday through December 30.
Hanad Adbi and Faysal Ahmed in ‘Little America’ season 2 (Photo Credit: Apple TV+)
LITTLE AMERICA Season 2 – December 9, 2022
Inspired by the true stories featured in Vox Media Studio’s Epic Magazine, Little America is a BAFTA, Independent Spirit, NAACP Image and GLAAD Media Award-nominated series that goes beyond the headlines to look at the funny, romantic, heartfelt, inspiring and surprising stories of immigrants in America.
Hailing from executive producers Emmy nominee Lee Eisenberg, Academy Award winner Siân Heder, Academy Award nominees Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon, Emmy Award winner Alan Yang, executive producers Natalie Sandy, and Arthur Spector, Joshuah Berman and Joshua Davis of Epic Magazine, the second season of the series will explore eight incredible stories inspired by real people from around the world, including a Belizian woman (Stacy Rose) who works for a Hasidic family in New York, a Korean man (Ki Hong Lee) who makes hats for the Black church community in 1980s Detroit, and the story of a 40-something Japanese woman in Columbus, Ohio (Shiori Ideta) whose dream is to assemble an all-women’s baseball league to fulfill her lifelong passion for the sport.
The complete second season will premiere with eight new installments on Friday, December 9.
Oscar nominee Timothée Chalamet reunites with his Call Me By Your Name director Luca Guadagnino for Bones and All, based on the novel by Camille DeAngelis. The film, which is coming off an impressive festival run, just unveiled a trippy trailer ahead of its November 23, 2022 theatrical run.
MGM also released a new poster featuring Timothée Chalamet and Taylor Russell (Lost in Space). The cast also includes Michael Stuhlbarg, André Holland, Chloë Sevigny, David Gordon Green, Jessica Harper, Jake Horowitz, and Mark Rylance.
“There is something about the disenfranchised, there is something about people living at the margins of society that I am drawn toward and touched by. All my movies are about outcasts, and the characters in Bones and All resonated with me,” said director Guadagnino. “In that regard, it’s also interesting to me to tackle texture-wise the mid-West in the 80s. The idea of the traveler, the one who roams, the wanderer in this kind of modern setting felt very American to me and seemed to me to be a good place to start making movies in the USA.”
The Oscar-nominated filmmaker has wanted to work with Chalamet since directing him in the critically acclaimed Call Me By Your Name, describing the actor as someone who “has the rare capacity to think not just from the perspective of his own character but from the wider perspective of cinema.”
Guadagnino added: “He is a very curious, very open, very human actor but also, he taps into something very contemporary, which was vital for this film. As Lee, he brings that sense of our times. He reveals the insecurity of Lee but also a compassion that is absolutely heartbreaking.”
Guadagnino serves as a producer on the R-rated thriller along with Chalamet, Theresa Park, Marco Morabito, David Kajganich, Francesco Melzi d’Eril, Lorenzo Mieli, Gabriele Moratti, and Peter Spears. Giovanni Corrado, Raffaella Viscardi, Moreno Zani, Marco Colombo, and Jonathan Montepare executive produce.
Poster for MGM’s ‘Bones and All’
The Plot:
Bones and All is a story of first love between Maren, a young woman learning how to survive on the margins of society, and Lee, an intense and disenfranchised drifter; a liberating road odyssey of two young people coming into their own, searching for identity and chasing beauty in a perilous world that cannot abide who they are.
The trailer for Apple TV+’s Raymond & Ray opens with the revelation a father’s last wish was that his sons dig his grave, which is odd but also strangely moving. Ewan McGregor and Ethan Hawke star as half-brothers who weren’t exactly close to each other or their dad before he died, but the trailer teases their relationship will transform as they come to terms with their father’s death.
Maribel Verdú (Now and Then), Sophie Okonedo (Slow Horses), Tom Bower (El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie), and Vondie Curtis Hall (For the People) also star in writer/director Rodrigo Garcia’s new dramedy. Garcia earned a Primetime Emmy nomination for directing the pilot of Big Love. His feature film directorial credits include 2008’s Passengers with Anne Hathaway and Patrick Wilson; 2009’s Mother and Child starring Naomi Watts and Annette Bening; and three-time Oscar nominee Albert Nobbs with Glenn Close.
Oscar winner Alfonso Cuarón, Bonnie Curtis, and Julie Lynn produced, with Shea Kammer and Gabriela Rodriguez executive producing.
Raymond & Ray premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and will stream on Apple TV+ on October 21, 2022.
Poster for Apple TV+’s ‘Raymond & Ray’
The Plot:
Raymond & Ray follows half-brothers Raymond and Ray who have lived in the shadow of a terrible father. Somehow, they still each have a sense of humor, and his funeral is a chance for them to reinvent themselves. There’s anger, there’s pain, there’s folly, there might be love, and there’s definitely grave-digging.
‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ (Photo Courtesy of 20th Century Studios)
The Apes rise again with a new chapter in the iconic Planet of the Apes franchise heading toward production. 20th Century Studios unveiled a photo teasing the new installment titled Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes and confirmed filming will get underway in November 2022.
The Maze Runner helmer Wes Ball will direct and Owen Teague (It), Freya Allan (The Witcher), and Peter Macon (The Orville) will star. Josh Friedman (War of the Worlds), Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver (Rise of the Planet of the Apes), and Patrick Aison (Prey) wrote the screenplay.
Joe Hartwick Jr., Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, and Jason Reed are producing, with Peter Chernin and Jenno Topping executive producing.
Fox didn’t reveal any plot details but did say the new chapter will pick up many years after the conclusion of 2017’s War for the Planet of the Apes.
“Planet of the Apes is one of the most iconic and storied science fiction franchises in film history, as well as being an indelible part of our studio’s legacy. With Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes we are privileged to continue the series’ tradition of imaginative, thought-provoking cinema, and can’t wait to share Wes’ extraordinary vision for this new chapter with audiences in 2024.” stated Steve Asbell, President 20th Century Studios.
The original Planet of the Apes film, based on Pierre Boulle’s novel, was released in 1968. Four sequels followed over the next five years, and in 2001 Tim Burton took the director’s chair for a remake of the original movie.
The sci-fi franchise was revived in 2011’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes directed by Rupert Wyatt and starring James Franco, Freida Pinto, and Andy Serkis. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes was released in 2014 with Andy Serkis reprising his performance capture role as Caesar alongside Jason Clarke, Keri Russell, and Gary Oldman. 2017’s War for the Planet of the Apes, once again starring Serkis, featured Woody Harrelson and Steve Zahn.
Season 11 of FX’s horror anthology series American Horror Story will kick off on October 19, 2022 at 10pm ET/PT with the release of the first two episodes. Two new episodes of the 10-episode AHS: NYC season will arrive each Wednesday.
The official premiere date announcement was accompanied by two posters from the upcoming installment. FX is keeping a lid on the plot, for now.
Back in February FX Chairman John Landgraf confirmed to The Wrap that season 11 returns the franchise to a single story after season 10’s double feature. “It actually takes place in different timelines but it’s one subject, one story, with a beginning, middle and an end, like many of the prior stories,” said Landgraf.
AHS: NYC stars Joe Mantello, Billie Lourd, Zachary Quinto, Russell Tovey, and Leslie Grossman. The ensemble also includes Charlie Carver, Sandra Bernhard, Isaac Powell, Denis O’Hare, and Patti LuPone.
Created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, AHS: NYC is executive produced Murphy, Falchuk, Alexis Martin Woodall, John J. Gray, Manny Coto, Jennifer Salt, and Our Lady J. The award-winning anthology series is produced by 20th Television.
American Horror Story, which has been renewed through season 13, is the network’s longest-running hour-long series in FX’s history. All 10 previous seasons of the Emmy-winning franchise are available on Hulu.
