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REVIEW: What Happened to Monday

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7 years ago

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What Happened to Monday is a sci-fi action thriller set in an overpopulated dystopian future where the Child Allocation Act advanced by career politician/genetic biologist Nicolette Cayman, played by a stiff, Hillary Clinton-esque Glenn Close, offers a solution. Mandatory from now on, only a single child will be allowed per household. Any siblings will be taken away and stored in a cryogenics system called Cryo Sleep. Somewhere, a woman, Karen Settman, dies during childbirth and her surviving set of identical septuplets are saved and hidden away by their biological grandfather, Terrence Settman, brilliantly portrayed by Willem Defoe. Each of the seven sisters  are named for each day of the week, a device that overplays its hand by the second act. They all assume one ultimate identity to ensure their survival: Karen Settman.

30 years later, all seven Karen Settmans, triumphantly played by Noomi Rapace, in a tour de force performance reminiscent of James McAvoy’s many alters in Split, tries to live a normal life while hiding with her six secret siblings in a technologically secure apartment. Each day, a different sister goes out of the house on the day that corresponds with her name, i.e. Monday assumes the identity of Karen Settman on Monday and goes into work…Tuesday on Tuesday and so on and so forth. And that’s where the problems began for me. Seems like an inventive plot, yes. It’s a fresh concept and the use of such a versatile actress was impressive, however, six was too much for the Child Allocation Bureau and sadly, it was too much for me. After a while, Noomi talking to herself annoyed me. It was hard to keep track of seven women as they lived together. The conversation between them seemed contrived in order to showcase each individual personality. Another headscratcher: supertitles with the days of the week preceded big scenes and yet, it wasn’t specified if it was appropriating the day of the week or one of the characters. The struggle to keep track of all seven ladies and the eventual twist seemed anticlimactic. Putting a ton of inventive ideas into a story doesn’t make for a better film. This is a perfect example of the old adage: less is more.

The screenwriters, Max Botkin and Kerry Williamson, convoluted the story to make us work for a big ending that seemed unsatisfying once the credits rolled. The special effects, the techie equipment and weaponry, and the set design really got me thinking this would be another Snowpiercer or Gattaca, unfortunately the director, Tommy Wirkola, asked me to do more than suspend my disbelief when he made the communication between all seven sisters pertinent to their survival only to dissolve that idea half way through the second act as the sister’s dirty secrets were needed to advance the plot. These so-called secrets would have made it impossible for them to conceal their identities and thrive. Far too many holes in the concepts the writers built into their own story world. There was some major potential. The flashback scenes where Terrance Settman would home school the seven little girls in secrecy were pure magic. If only home schooling was handled by Mr. Settman, we’d have no need for a scary dystopian thrillers. All would be utopia. These scenes were few and far between, however, they hinted at the wonderful beginnings the story had.

I had many questions while watching What Happened to Monday These questions took me out of the movie experience. Some of the plot devices were so clunky that I had to laugh. Sci-fi fans of the above mentioned films will get a thrill but, like the film itself, even that’s a stretch.

 

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Paramount+ Reveals Official Main Title Sequence for the Upcoming Series TALES OF THE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES

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10 hours ago

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July 26, 2024

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During the TALES OF THE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES panel earlier today at San Diego Comic Con, Paramount+ revealed the official main title sequence for the series. The sequence is composed by EMMY® nominee, Matt Mahaffey, known for his work on Sanjay and Craig, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie and much more. 

From the studios of the Mutant Mayhem film, the all-new Paramount+ original series TALES OF THE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES explores the adventures of everyone’s favorite pizza-loving heroes as they emerge from the sewers onto the streets of NYC. Leo, Raph, Donnie and Mikey are faced with new threats and team up with old allies to survive both teenage life and villains lurking in the shadows of the Big Apple. The series is produced by Nickelodeon Animation and Point Grey Pictures.

TALES OF THE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES is executive produced by Chris Yost (The Mandalorian, Thor: Ragnarok) and Alan Wan (Blue Eye Samurai, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles [2012 Series]). Production is overseen for Nickelodeon by Claudia Spinelli, Senior Vice President, TV Series Animation, Nickelodeon, and Nikki Price, Director of Development and Executive in Charge of Production.

In addition to the upcoming new series, stream all things Turtles on Paramount+.

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Comic-Con 2024: Those About to Die Activation

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13 hours ago

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July 26, 2024

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DISNEY+ CASTS DANIEL DIEMER AS FAN-FAVORITE ‘TYSON’IN SEASON TWO OF “PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS”

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13 hours ago

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July 26, 2024

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 in Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con, Rick Riordan and Disney+ revealed that Daniel Diemer (“Under the Bridge”) will star as fan-favorite cyclops “Tyson” in the epic adventure series “Percy Jackson and the Olympians.” Diemer joins Walker Scobell (Percy Jackson), Leah Sava Jeffries (Annabeth Chase) and Aryan Simhadri (Grover Underwood) as a series regular. The Disney+ Original series from Disney Branded Television and 20th Television will start filming its second season next week in Vancouver.

Season two of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” is based on the second installment of Disney Hyperion’s best-selling book series titled “The Sea of Monsters” by award-winning author Rick Riordan. In the new season, Percy Jackson returns to Camp Half-Blood one year later to find his world turned upside down. His friendship with Annabeth is changing, he learns he has a cyclops for a brother, Grover has gone missing, and camp is under siege from the forces of Kronos. Percy’s journey to set things right will take him off the map and into the deadly Sea of Monsters, where a secret fate awaits the son of Poseidon.

Diemer stars as Tyson – a young Cyclops who grew up all alone on the streets, and finds it difficult to survive in the human world.  Shy and awkward, with a heart almost as big as he is, Tyson soon discovers that Poseidon is his father, which means Percy Jackson is his half-brother… and that Tyson may have finally found a home. 

Diemer recently starred in the Hulu limited series “Under the Bridge” based off the critically acclaimed book of the same name and a tragic true story of a missing teen girl in Vancouver in 1997. He will next star in the indie “Thug” opposite Liam Neeson and Ron Perlman for director Hans Petter Moland. Daniel was recently seen as the lead in the indie “Supercell” opposite Alec Baldwin and Skeet Ulrich and the lead in the film “Little Brother” opposite Phil Ettinger and JK Simmons. Daniel can also be seen in the Netflix series “The Midnight Club” and recently starred as the male lead in the breakout hit Netflix feature “The Half Of It” from producer Anthony Bregman and director Alice Wu. He is a graduate of Victoria Academy of Dramatic Arts in Vancouver.

Created by Rick Riordan and Jonathan E. Steinberg, season two of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” is executive produced by Steinberg and Dan Shotz alongside Rick Riordan, Rebecca Riordan, Craig Silverstein, The Gotham Group’s Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Bert Salke, The Gotham Group’s Jeremy Bell and D.J. Goldberg, James Bobin, Jim Rowe, Albert Kim, Jason Ensler and Sarah Watson.

The first season of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” is available on Disney+

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