JoBlo Originals

2023 may have been a great year for movies, but not even Oppenheimer could have made a bigger bomb this year than the long-delayed fourth adventure for Sylvester Stallone and Jason Statham’s action superteam: The Expendables 4 (aka EXPEND4BLES)! It’s been nine long years since Expendables 3 let action fans down with its toned down PG-13 rating, but Stallone promised to make it worth the wait with his final R-rated turn at age 77 as Barney Ross, handing over the guns and grenades for most of the film to Statham’s Lee Christmas as he and the new team stop a villainous mercenary and the rogue CIA agent he’s working for (who may or may not be a visibly bored Andy Garcia) from kicking off World War III. Unfortunately, the cast lineup they have to work with exchanges actual action stars like Bruce and Arnold for the youth friendly likes of Megan Fox and 50 Cent, and with Stallone not even bothering to write the script this time, the corny action hero quips won’t be the only thing that has audiences groaning. From its abysmal CGI that somehow looks worse than any Marvel movie this year, to its wasting of actual action movie stars like Iko Uwais as one of our villains and Tony Jaa as one of our new Expendables, it’s a new low for a franchise that has never had much of a high to start with. Without any of the charming aspects of the 80s action movies it hopes to emulate, this fourth entry should be a wake-up call to Stallone in his later years that it’s okay to let some things die already, while Statham goes back to less ridiculous movies where he drives cars in mid-air and fights prehistoric sharks. Rocky and Rambo, you will be missed… Barney Ross, not so much.

As fans of movies and TV, we have seen thousands of guest stars grace our screens only to disappear forever after their purpose has been served. But once in a while a performer gives life to a character that can not be contained to just one or two episodes. Once in a while a performer brings to life a character that doesn’t just perform in a show, but comes to define it. Thus is the story of Steve Urkel, the lovable nerd from next door that was only meant for a single episode but in the hands of the talented Jaleel White became one of the most iconic characters in television history. But sometimes when you craft a character so beloved, it is hard to shake them, as audiences, and casting directors, only see that character in you. Sometimes you work so hard to shake that character from audiences minds that eventually you grow to fully embrace it. It’s time we find out just WTF Happened to Jaleel White.... the dude who played Urkel!

Ron Howard's Cocoon was one of the biggest hits of the eighties, won an Oscar for star Don Ameche and spawned a sequel. Yet, for something like 10 years its been all but impossible to find. It was issued on DVD over 20 years ago, but only surfaced on Blu-ray in Region 2. In North America, the old DVD, if you can find it, is the only way to see this movie. It's not streaming, but oddly, the sequel Cocoon: The Return is easy to find. In this video, we discuss why it vanished and why it's so important to keep collecting Blu-rays (and physical media in general) and never to throw out your old DVDs, as movies still just go away - and often for inexplicable reasons.

Sometimes your entire world can change in a single moment. For a young Tia Carrere’s world became more excellent one trip a local grocery store where the parents of a man who was producing a movie saw her and told her about this movie their son was shooting. This would lead Tia Carrere to land a role in the film Aloha Summer. She says she was super nervous because she had never acted before and hadn’t even thought of it as an option in her life but she did it! Ms Carrere grew up wanting to be a singer.... and she did that too! After rocking everyone’s world in the Wayne’s World cinematic universe film franchise and the James Cameron classic True Lies, Tia Carrere became a household name in the early nineties while also standing toe to toe with some of the biggest names in the business. But after a few bad turns at the box office it seemed she was destined for the direct to video bins that would lead her into a steady career of TV appearances that never seemed to match the immense talent she displayed when she first started. With two Grammy wins to her name and a Disney live action remake that might not be horrible in the pipeline, its time we ask that ever important question: WTF Happened to Tia Carrere.

Silent Night marks John Woo's first American movie since 2003's Paycheck, and proves to be a solid, scrappy comeback for one of the greatest action directors of all time. Joel Kinnaman stars as a grieving father on a Christmastime mission on vengeance. For more MOVIE NEWS, visit: http://www.joblo.com SUBSCRIBE for more of all the LATEST JoBlo Videos here: https://goo.gl/R9U81J #silentnight #johnwoo #JoelKinnaman

If you had to name the most original filmmaker of the last half-century, what’s the first name that comes to mind? David Cronenberg? Wes Anderson? Maybe Werner Herzog or the Coen brothers? While all of them are certainly worthy contenders, it’s hard to argue against the lasting merits of David Lynch, the truly unique cinematic surrealist who has been tormenting audiences with nightmarishly vexing material since his feature film debut Eraserhead in 1977. Indeed, few filmmakers have become name brands unto themselves in the way Lynch’s name evokes a particular type of psychological moviegoing experience. And while he’s worked in many different genres in his career with varying results, no one explores the nature of dreams and the human subconscious like Lynch has repeatedly done throughout his filmography. Moreover, as seen in his tour-de-force 1986 neo-noir mystery Blue Velvet, Lynch has an uncanny knack for digging beneath the idyllic facade of small-town America and exposing the seedy underbelly that often lies beneath. It’s through that lens that we’ll fondly look back and discover what inspired the movie, how it was developed, what went into the casting, what memorable accidents and anecdotes occurred during production, how the film was shaped in the editing process, and what was left on the cutting room floor. In fact, we’ve got a lot more in store when we crack a Heineken…scratch that…a Pabst Blue Ribbon and find out What The F*** Happened to Blue Velvet! For more MOVIE NEWS, visit: http://www.joblo.com SUBSCRIBE for more of all the LATEST JoBlo Videos here: https://goo.gl/R9U81J #DavidLynch #BlueVelvet #wtfhappenedtothismovie

In this special edition of WTF Happened to this Celebrity, we take a look at three of the hottest stars of the 90s: Denise Richards, Freddie Prinze Jr, and Heather Graham. Denise Richards: After Starship Troopers and Wild Things, Denise Richards became one of the hottest stars of the decade. Yet, a controversial role in an unloved 007 film, The World is Not Enough, seemed to kill her momentum. What Happened? Freddie Prinze Jr: The son of the legendary Freddie Prinze, this actor was one of the hottest young leading men of his era, but never broke out from youth-oriented teen films. We discuss how he took a step back to focus on his family and relationship with long-time wife Sarah Michelle Gellar. Heather Graham: Roles in Boogie Nights and Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me pigeonholed Heather Graham as a sexy dream girl, but in recent years she's had a lot of success playing against type. We dig into her comeback. For more MOVIE NEWS, visit: http://www.joblo.com SUBSCRIBE for more of all the LATEST JoBlo Videos here: https://goo.gl/R9U81J #DeniseRichards #freddieprinzejr #heathergraham

Every once in a while you will find a show that will become your obsession. You know what I'm talking about, it’s the show that you can't stop thinking about. The water cooler shows as they say. Game of Thrones, The Wire, and of course, Breaking Bad are the prime examples. But some shows that are equally as good, sometimes just fly under the radar. TV shows that are just as good if not better than the Breaking Bad's of the world. One of those shows is called The Shield, starring Michael Chiklis as corrupt cop Vic Mackey. This show is something special. To say that The Shield pushes the envelope is an understatement. The series showed the ugly side of crime and law enforcement. Corruption, murder, racism, political machinations, serial killers, and other dark stuff that you would probably would not like to hear about. This is one of those TV shows that I had to take a break from because it just got too intense. But, the complex and fascinating characters just brought me back for more. So is the Shield a forgotten brilliant piece of TV or am I just exaggerating? Let's find out in this episode of Gone But, Not Forgotten. For more MOVIE NEWS, visit: http://www.joblo.com SUBSCRIBE for more of all the LATEST JoBlo Videos here: https://goo.gl/R9U81J #TheShield #gonebutnotforgotten

Napoleon has proven a formidable adversary for filmmakers to topple. No less than Stanley Kubrick tried and failed to mount a lavish Napoleon biopic, but other than the contained and costly Russian flop Waterloo and the silent Abel Gance movie, the infamous military commander has never gotten the big-budget epic he deserved. Leave it to Ridley Scott, at 85, to finally do what Kubrick couldn't - make the definitive Napoleon movie. For more MOVIE NEWS, visit: http://www.joblo.com SUBSCRIBE for more of all the LATEST JoBlo Videos here: https://goo.gl/R9U81J #napoleon #ridleyscott #joaquinphoenix

If you followed indie film in the 90s, Vince Vaughn was at the center of a legendary tale. As the story goes, in order to get permission to used the theme from Jaws in the film Swingers, Doug LIman screened the film for Steven Spielberg’s approval. Not only did Stevie Boy allow them to use the scary shark tune but the legendary director knew he had to work with whoever was playing Trent Walker. And, he did just that when he cast Vince Vaughn in his Jurassic Park sequel, The Lost World. Spielberg instantly knew that Vince Vaughn was superstar material and he was correctomundo. Over the last nearly 30 years, he has given us some of the best comedic performance mixed in with some bone chilling anti-heroes. But it seems in the past few years Vaughn has slowed down his output to focus on smaller roles in more meaningful projects. Is that a good thing? Or a bad thing? Or just a thing? It is time we take a look at just WTF happened to Vince Vaughn, who we still think is pretty money.

If we’re talking about the holy trinity of Vietnam War movies, there’s no doubt about which ones reign supreme. Indeed, Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now, Oliver Stone’s Platoon, and Stanely Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket will forever be regarded as the most viscerally harrowing glimpses into the physical and psychological toll that the Vietnam War had on a generation of young American men. Yet, despite the popularity of Full Metal Jacket, one can’t help but wonder how much more successful the movie would have been if weren’t released in the shadow of Platoon’s smashing success. Remember, not only did Platoon win four Oscars in 1987, including Best Picture, but it was released in theaters just five months before Full Metal Jacket. As a result, Kubrick’s undeniable classic sort of got lost in the shuffle and never received the contemporaneous accolades and attention it deserved. Of course, always ahead of the curve and far beyond his time, Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket has only gained appreciation and popularity over the years, with many even asserting that it’s the absolute best Vietnam War movie of all time. The truth is, Kubrick began working on Full Metal Jacket long before Platoon was in production and has more in common with Apocalypse Now than Oliver Stone’s Oscar-winning classic. We’ll explain exactly how in this video, along with the film’s development, casting process, principal photography, on-set anecdotes, injuries, and accidents, and of course, Kubrick’s painstaking process that arguably made him the greatest living filmmaker of all time. We're about to find out What Happened to Full Metal Jacket! For more MOVIE NEWS, visit: http://www.joblo.com SUBSCRIBE for more of all the LATEST JoBlo Videos here: https://goo.gl/R9U81J #FullMetalJacket #StanleyKubrick

Aint love grand! Well, maybe not if you're Johnny Depp or Amber Heard. But, it's usually a beautiful thing when two people meet and fall in love. For many of us, we meet these people at work and try to keep it hidden from the watchful eye of human resources, but in Hollywood, there is more than HR watching your every move. Paparazzi stalk you, shooting 100 pictures a minute to sell the juiciest one to the tabloids for the rest of the world to eat up with their morning coffee. The bigger the star you are, the more attention any picture of you gets. Johnny Depp was no stranger to having his love life plastered on every tabloid magazine and hack TV show, so when he started dating a girl 23 years his junior, Amber Heard, his beautiful co-star in The Rum Diaries, it was bound to get some headlines, but I’m not sure they were the headlines the Pirates of the Caribbean star wanted. They say that most marriages end in divorce, but how many end up in a courtroom with the world watching? It’s time we take a deeper look at the controversial marriage now known as: Depp v Heard. For more MOVIE NEWS, visit: http://www.joblo.com SUBSCRIBE for more of all the LATEST JoBlo Videos here: https://goo.gl/R9U81J #JohnnyDepp #amberheard

In 2019, Captain Marvel became the first female-led superhero movie to cross a billion dollars at the box office and garnered a decent critical response while simultaneously getting review bombed on IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes. The Marvels has just not built the buzz that the studio was hoping for. Having seen the film, I can say that it is one of the most strangely structured MCU movies to date. Clocking in well under two hours, The Marvels never quite comes together satisfactorily and instead relies on some significant teases at the end to justify audiences checking it out on the big screen. For more MOVIE NEWS, visit: http://www.joblo.com SUBSCRIBE for more of all the LATEST JoBlo Videos here: https://goo.gl/R9U81J #TheMarvels #brielarson

A new decade began at the end of the 80s. The television landscape was beginning to change somewhat. The big three were nervous about a new network called Fox that, with an animated show of all things called The Simpsons, would manage to beat them in the ratings. ABC decided to gamble on something completely different in comparison to anything else on the television landscape at that time with David Lynch's Twin Peaks. This was the first glimpse that viewers would have into the misty and surreal town of Twin Peaks, a dream world created by David Lynch and Mark Frost which would become an obsession to viewers and would continue to be over the years to come. Twin Peaks didn't follow any conventional rule of how a TV series acted and David Lynch, a man known for the strange in his film work, would not tame it down for a small screen at all. So grab your damn fine coffee and get that slice of pie to go. We're about to arrive in the picturesque town of Twin Peaks…where nothing is what it seems. In this episode of Gone But Not Forgotten For more MOVIE NEWS, visit: http://www.joblo.com SUBSCRIBE for more of all the LATEST JoBlo Videos here: https://goo.gl/R9U81J #TwinPeaks #DavidLynch #GoneButNotForgotten

Today we explore Sam Raimi's iconic horror-comedy series that redefined the genre. From the terrifying origins in 'The Evil Dead' to the surreal slapstick of Evil Dead 2, and the time-traveling chaos of Army of Darkness, we dissect the films, delve into their cult status, and celebrate their enduring impact. Discover the birth of 'Deadites,' Ash's iconic chainsaw-wielding heroics, and the cinematic innovations that have made these movies fan favorites. Buckle up for a groovy adventure as we honor the legacy of 'The Evil Dead Trilogy' in all its blood-soaked, one-liner-spouting glory

Ellen DeGeneres used to open every episode of her show by dancing through the crowd, shaking it with complete strangers all in the name of fun. And she would end every episode encouraging her viewers to “Be kind to one another.” It was a mantra that would be tied to her for almost 20 years...but now rumors and allegations of a toxic work environment have shaken up the friendly foundation of Ellen D. What made her turn from the most beloved talk show host ever to becoming the very epitome of irony? Did anything really change or was it all always there? Let’s dance around this topic and find out: WTF Happened to...ELLEN DEGENERES?

With The Killer, director David Fincher's dips his toe into action filmmaking, with this a hitman thriller punctuated by a terrific fight sequence that ranks up there with Fincher's most memorable moments. While probably more of a genre exercise than his best work, Fincher is clearly operating at a high level, with this also offering star Michael Fassbender a strong comeback role. For more MOVIE NEWS, visit: http://www.joblo.com SUBSCRIBE for more of all the LATEST JoBlo Videos here: https://goo.gl/R9U81J #TheKiller #DavidFincher #MichaelFassbender

Now that David Gordon Green has sent another horror franchise to hell with THE EXORCIST: BELIEVER, the time is right this Halloween for Awfully Good Movies to tackle one of the most awfully good sequels ever made… EXORCIST II: THE HERETIC! While the late William Friedkin and William Peter Blatty were hellbent against any follow-ups to their seminal horror classic, the suits at Warner Bros. felt otherwise and rolled camera on a follow-up four years later from another prestige filmmaker, John Boorman, despite Boorman passing on the first film and calling it a “repulsive” tale about “child abuse”. So instead, Linda Blair returns as Regan MacNeil one last time (until REPOSSESSED and EXORCIST: BELIEVER, that is) to fight the satanic demon nipping at her heels once more, thanks to a mind synchronization device that is just the tip of this sequel’s deeply insane iceberg. Whether it’s a visibly drunk Richard Burton as the new priest sent to save Regan’s soul and clear Father Merrin’s name, Louise Fletcher slumming it after her Oscar for Nurse Ratched playing Regan’s harried psychologist in place of the absent Ellen Burstyn, or James Earl Jones wearing a locust costume atop his head, they’re all complicit in John Boorman’s craziest concoction since ZARDOZ, with the now-debunked pseudoscience of ESP (“the sixth sense”) proving central to the plot in overlong hallucination sequences and flashbacks with a begrudgingly returning Max von Sydow as the young Father Merrin. And did I forget to mention the demon’s name is Pazuzu? (Yes, I know it’s his name in the book, but still!) It all combines to create one of the most spectacular failures in the history of sequels, with all the scares now replaced by unintentional laughs or long stretches of boredom… you know, much like EXORCIST: BELIEVER! But at least THE HERETIC has some pretty photography, a great Morricone score, and an unlikely fan in none other than Martin Scorsese. Yes, folks, Scorsese thinks that EXORCIST II is cinema, which is more than anybody can say for EXORCIST: BELIEVER.

As far as conspiracy theories go, very few have had as much of a life as the notion that NASA faked the Apollo moon landing. In some ways, one can understand why people felt this way, as it was one of the most critical events in human history, and the only witness was a TV camera. Back then, people distrusted anything they couldn't see with their own eyes. In the seventies, conspiracy theories started to get famous, especially as far as the government went, with this the era of Watergate. People no longer trusted authority, and into this fraught environment came Capricorn One, a sci-fi-tinged conspiracy thriller that was one of the most popular films of 1977 but has since been largely forgotten - save for a small cult of devoted fans. For more MOVIE NEWS, visit: http://www.joblo.com SUBSCRIBE for more of all the LATEST JoBlo Videos here: https://goo.gl/R9U81J #thebestmovieyouneversaw #conspiracy #JerryGoldsmith

If you’re a child of the nineties, chances are you grew up loving Sinbad. Also known as David Atkins, Sinbad began his comedy career as a contestant on Star Search before nabbing his breakout role on the Cosby Show spin-off, A Different World, where he played Coach Walter Oakes; he served as a mentor to the main cast, who all played students at the fictional Hillman College. His distinctive look made him instantly identifiable, and it wasn’t long before he started showing up in movies, with roles in Necessary Roughness and Coneheads. His career was unusual because most people went to TV after their movie careers cooled down. For Sinbad, it was the opposite. His solo TV show, The Sinbad Show, was a flop, but shortly afterwards, his movie career went into high gear, with him appearing in a string of hit movies. His biggest hit was Houseguest opposite the late Phil Hartman, but he also co-starred with Arnold Schwarzenegger in Jingle All The Way and made a well-received Disney film called First Kid. And no, we did not star in Kazaam (blame the Mandela Effect for that one). Oddly, after three successful films, Sinbad’s career cooled around 2000, and no one knows why. In this episode of WTF Happened to this Celebrity, we dig into the inexplicable cooling of this terrific comic actor’s career, as well as shining a light on some of the health challenges he’s faced as the beloved star recovers from a debilitating stroke. Do you have fond memories of Sinbad? Let us know in the comments! For more MOVIE NEWS, visit: http://www.joblo.com SUBSCRIBE for more of all the LATEST JoBlo Videos here: https://goo.gl/R9U81J #Sinbad #wtfhappenedtothiscelebrity

The Silver Surfer hasn’t been treated well on the big screen. When 20th Century Fox announced the character would be appearing in their 2007 sequel, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer well, we’d be lying if we said fans were enthusiastic given the lacklustre reaction to the first film. But, people were happy that Doug Jones would be playing the role in motion capture, even if Lawrence Fishburne doing the voice seemed like an odd mis-match. When it came out in the summer of 2007 reviews were slightly more positive than they were for this first film, but it was a box office dissapointment. Yet, we think it’s not quite as bad as people remember as we dig into in this episode of Marvel Revisited. For more MOVIE NEWS, visit: http://www.joblo.com SUBSCRIBE for more of all the LATEST JoBlo Videos here: https://goo.gl/R9U81J #FantasticFourRiseOfTheSIlverSurfer #SilverSurfer #FantasticFour

Martin Scorsese is considered by many to be the greatest living director, and here at JoBlo, we’re inclined to agree. For over fifty years, Scorsese has regularly churned out masterpieces at a genuinely dizzying rate. Has he ever made a legitimately bad film? Even his failures, like 1976’s New York New York, are worth watching and occasionally brilliant. So-called lesser efforts like After Hours are actually quite brilliant upon re-examination, but the question remains - what are Martin Scorsese’s best films? Truth be told, this is an impossible question to answer. When you’re working on the level of Scorsese, it’s hard to quantify what his best work is, as so many of his films are brilliant that a case could be made for everything from Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas, The Last Temptation of Christ, Silence and beyond. Thus, we here at JoBlo are doing something a little different by presenting our ten favorite Scorsese movies. To note, Killers of the Flower Moon is not included - not because it doesn’t qualify (you can read our rave review here), but rather because Scorsese’s movies, in our opinion, need to be viewed multiple times to see how they fit in the canon. You can watch our favourite Martin Scorsese movies via the video embedded above, but make sure to let us know in the comments if you agree or disagree with our occasionally controversial picks.

Of all the actors to get caught up in the #MeToo movement, perhaps one of the most surprising was Dustin Hoffman. Back in 2017, when the actor was fresh off of delivering one of his finest latter-day performances in The Meyerowitz Stories, the actor was confronted (some say ambushed) at a 20th-anniversary screening of Wag the Dog by comedian John Oliver, who questioned him about accusations of inappropriate behaviour from thirty years prior on the set of Death of a Salesman. The story went viral, and soon a story about Hoffman’s treatment of Meryl Streep on the set of Kramer vs Kramer also got renewed play, much to Streep’s dismay, who said Hoffman had apologized years earlier, and she accepted that. In the years since, Hoffman’s career has been low-key, with him only showing up in a few indie and international films, which is a significant comedown for a man who was always considered one of the greatest actors of his generation. Indeed, his filmography is tough to match, with him acting in decades of classics, including The Graduate, Little Big Man, Straw Dogs, Marathon Man, Tootsie, Rain Man, and so many more. Should a few instances of inappropriate behaviour be enough to tarnish his legacy? We dig into his life and career in this episode of WTF Happened to this Celebrity, written by Mathew Plale and edited, narrated and produced by Taylor James Johnson. Do you think Dustin Hoffman’s legacy has been marred? Let us know in the comments!

Police Academy was one of the most successful film franchises of the eighties. From 1984-1989, Warner Bros churned out an entry every year, and the movies were all decent-sized hits and giant in video rental stores the entire decade. But how did the franchise start? How did an R-rated comedy about a bunch of misfit, wannabe cops launch a family-friendly franchise? In this episode of What Happened to this Movie, we dig into how Steve Guttenberg’s Mahoney, Michael Winslow’s sound-effects spewing Jones and the rest of the misfit gang became screen icons. Does the first Police Academy movie hold up well? Let us know in the comments. For more MOVIE NEWS, visit: http://www.joblo.com SUBSCRIBE for more of all the LATEST JoBlo Videos here: https://goo.gl/R9U81J #PoliceAcademy #SteveGuttenberg #wtfhappenedtothismovie

Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, despite not having even opened in theaters yet, has probably already been written about more than any other movie this year outside of the Barbenheimer phenomenon. One can understand why, as it’s the work of perhaps the greatest living director in Martin Scorsese, and is the first movie the director’s made that bring together his two favorite leading men, Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro (although the two worked together before on This Boy’s Life). Does the film live up to its iconic pairing and do justice to the true story of the Osage Native American Tribe? For more MOVIE NEWS, visit: http://www.joblo.com SUBSCRIBE for more of all the LATEST JoBlo Videos here: https://goo.gl/R9U81J #killersoftheflowermoon #MartinScorsese #leonardodicaprio