‘Prisoners of the Ghostland’ Film Review: Nicolas Cage Grimaces and Bears It Through Baffling Genre Mishmash

Willy’s Wonderland was full of his favourite animals.That’s according to director Kevin Lewis and screenwriter G.O.

There’s no denying that “Willy’s Wonderland” is easily in the running for strangest film of 2021, thanks to both its bonkers premise and the completely silent performance of Nicolas Cage.

Yes, we’re definitely in the middle of awards season and folks are beginning to forecast the upcoming Oscar nominations. But I can assure you of one thing — “Willy’s Wonderland” likely won’t be nominated for Best Film.

Home and Away star Johnny Ruffo shocked the nation in November when he revealed his cancer had returned, despite previously getting the all-clear from the disease just on year earlier.WATCH: Johnny Ruffo cries as he talks about cancer battle on The ProjectAs he takes up his second fierce fight against brain cancer, the 32-year-old has girlfriend Tahnee Sims by his side every step of the way – a woman he has often credited with saving his life.Back in August 2017, Johnny was suffering an

One of pop culture's enduring questions is why an acclaimed, Academy Award-winning actor like Nicolas Cage would spend so much of his career squandering his talents in a succession of B-movies that can charitably be described as baroque.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film CriticIf Rob Zombie made a slasher movie that was also an “attack of the killer Muppets” movie, it might look like “Willy’s Wonderland.” Directed by Kevin Lewis, from a script by G.O.

One of filmdom’s weirdest blockbuster action thrillers will be getting a sequel, nearly a quarter-century after it first hit theatres.

Director Kevin Lewis and writer G.O. Parsons have discovered time-travel without physical displacement.

Watch Video: 'Barb & Star' Trailer: Watch Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo Awkwardly Flirt With Jamie DornanAfter the furniture store they work in shuts down, the women decide it’s time to shake things up, so they take a friend’s suggestion and travel to Vista Del Mar, a Florida island that’s a vacation paradise for travelers over the age of 45.What they don’t realize is that a mad scientist (also Wiig) plans to get her revenge on the town by unleashing a swarm of killer mosquitos during the annual

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle EditorListen to the theme song of Nicolas Cage’s new horror movie “Willy’s Wonderland” and chances are you won’t be able to get it out of your heard.Here, Variety gives you the first listen to the full creepy, yet catchy “The Birthday Song and Willy’s Jingle.”In the Kevin Lewis-directed film, Cage plays a man whose car breaks down. In order to pay for the repairs, he agrees to clean an abandoned amusement park fun house.

Perfecting a prehistoric voice is hard work for the cast of “The Croods: A New Age”.

might be loony, but he definitely isn’t handsy. Actress Kat Dennings recalled an audition where she had to mime escaping from Cage after the Oscar winner refused to touch her out of respect.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor Kat Dennings is back as Darcy Lewis. She first played the role as Jane Foster’s assistant in “Thor” and “Thor: The Dark World.”But now she’s Dr.

The 1969 killing at age 21 of Illinois Black Panther Party chairman Fred Hampton was a potent secondary plot point last year in Aaron Sorkin's The Trial of the Chicago 7. That same government hit job gets expanded treatment and wields proportionately explosive impact in Shaka King's Judas and the Black Messiah, a historical thriller with an urgency that speaks even louder more than half a century later.

Three years ago, Sundance booked Panos Cosmatos' Mandy, a hyperviolent, singularly weird film that ranks among the most worthwhile products of Nicolas Cage's anything-for-a-paycheck period. Cult-movie lightning doesn't strike twice with Prisoners of the Ghostland, a Cage-starring (mostly) English-language effort by prolific Japanese director Sion Sono.

Also Read: 14 Buzziest Sundance Movies for Sale in 2021, From Questlove's 'Summer of Soul' to Rebecca Hall's 'Passing' (Photos)The film was one of the opening-night presentations at the virtual Sundance Film Festival on Thursday, occupying the same position as previous music-focused docs like “Twenty Feet From Stardom,” “Searching for Sugar Man,” “What Happened, Miss Simone?” and last year’s “Miss Americana.” No doubt it left some viewers wishing that it had been the Eccles Theatre moving to the

Sure, Sundance is absolutely loaded with some amazing prestige films that are sure to be in the discussion at the end of the year during awards season. Rebecca Hall’s “Passing?” Looks incredible and thought-provoking.

Watch Video: Denzel Washington and Rami Malek Are Out to Catch Jared Leto in 'The Little Things' TrailerOne senses that Hancock (“Saving Mr. Banks,” “The Founder”) wants to bait and switch the audience with what at first seems like a straightforward policier but then pivots into a character study of Deke and Jim — respectively, an aging lawman who’s literally haunted by his mistakes and an ambitious young climber who may follow in Deke’s footsteps for better or for worse.

Also Read: 14 Buzziest Sundance Movies for Sale in 2021, From Questlove's 'Summer of Soul' to Rebecca Hall's 'Passing' (Photos)“Prisoners of the Ghostland” is presented by Patriot Pictures and was fully financed by Michael Mendelsohn’s Union Patriot Capital Management.

Before its Sundance Film Festival premiere, Japanese director Sion Sono’s action/adventure feature Prisoners of the Ghostland has been snapped up by AMC Networks’ RLJE Films.