‘Wendell & Wild’ Review: Henry Selick and Jordan Peele’s Stop-Motion Collaboration is Uneven But Engaging [TIFF]

“Pinocchio” will feature stop motion puppetry, and the acclaimed filmmaker takes viewers behind the scenes of the process in a new featurette released as a part of Netflix’s Tudum celebration on Saturday.“To me, there’s a valuable difference between stop-motion as an art form and digital,” del Toro says over shots of filmmakers moving the figurines of Pinocchio, Geppetto and Sepastian J. Cricket.

Michaela Zee editor The U.S. premiere of Jordan Peele and Henry Selick’s “Wendell & Wild” will kick off the fifth edition of Animation Is Film (AIF) on Oct. 21. The screening of the forthcoming Netflix feature will be followed by an in-person Q&A with Selick. “I’m delighted my new film ‘Wendell & Wild’ — co-written and produced with Jordan Peele — will have its U.S. premiere at Animation Is Film, a festival that celebrates the non-traditional and ground-breaking in animated movies,” Selick said in a statement. “Our made-in-the-USA stop-motion feature is many things: scary, funny, creepy, sad, and empowering, but most of all, it’s very very original so I can’t think of a better place for its U.S. premiere than Animation Is Film. Hope you enjoy the show.

EJ Panaligan editor NewFest, a New York-based LGBTQ+ film festival, has announced the full lineup for its 34th iteration. The 2022 edition will run from Oct. 13 to Oct. 25. With world, North American, U.S. and New York premieres for more than 130 films from 23 countries, the festival will be headlined by the world premiere of HBO documentary “Mama’s Boy” from Laurent Bouzereau as the opening night screening. Additionally, the festival will hold an advance screening for the Season 2 premiere of popular HBO series “The White Lotus.” Other high-profile screenings through the festival’s run include Michael Grandage’s love triangle film “My Policeman,” starring Harry Styles and Emma Corrin, and the stop-motion horror comedy “Wendell & Wild,” from writer-director Henry Selick. Jordan Peele co-writes, while also featuring in a lead voice role. Keegan-Michael Key inhabits the film’s other lead voice role, marking a “Key & Peele” reunion on the animated stage between the two longtime collaborators.

In 2020, the filmmaker Matt Smukler — his most widely seen work then a Deutsche Telekom ad campaign starring Justin Bieber — completed a short about his wife’s sister’s family. Sheila Stahl and her husband Mike weren’t so different from any other small-town couple, a pair of good Christians gratefully receiving the daily pleasures of their hobbies (stock car racing, arts and crafts), their comfy recliners, and each other’s company.

Jordan Peele’s third feature, “Nope,” focuses on a group of characters (played by Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, Steven Yeun, Brandon Perea and Michael Wincott) attempting to track down an unidentified flying object spotted in the air around the Agua Dulce desert. Many of the film’s scenes take place in the dead of night, but as Peele describes it, the majority of them weren’t filmed at night. Instead, cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema shot most of the scenes during the day using some innovative technological approaches “I haven’t wanted to ruin the illusion, but I’ll ruin it for you today,” Peele said at a Toronto International Film Festival Q&A on Sept. 12. “The night shots, for the most part, were shot in the day, which is due to a technological and strategic thing that [Hoytema] brought to the table. ”

A person hires a dominatrix for the same reason they subscribe to organized religion: to give themselves over to a higher power. In Zachary Wigon’s terrific two-hander “Sanctuary,” he invests the dynamic between a roleplaying sex worker and her longest-term client with all the devotional, frustrated intensity of an implacable deity and the quavering mortal who labors to appease her.

Clayton Davis Almost 30 years after “The Nightmare Before Christmas” (1993), Henry Selick returns with “Wendell & Wild,” another stop-motion animated sensation that’s sure to generate acclaim throughout the industry. Co-written by Oscar-winning screenwriter Jordan Peele, the Netflix feature film debuted at the Toronto Film Festival and may have asserted itself as the new frontrunner for best animated feature. Based on Selick and Clay McLeod Chapman’s unpublished book of the same name, the film tells the story of two scheming demon brothers, Wendell (Keegan-Michael Key) and Wild (Peele), who enlist the aid of a 13-year-old Kat (Lyric Ross) to summon them to the Land of the Living. It also features the voice talents of Angela Bassett, James Hong and Ving Rhames.

There’s water, water everywhere in “Causeway,” the strong cinematic debut of accomplished theatre mainstay Lila Neugebauer — and oh so much to think about. The laconic Lynsey (a resurgent Jennifer Lawrence in what is plainly her career’s finest performance) explains that she’s drawn to water on a deep, source-of-all-life level while convincing a pool cleaning service’s manager to give her a job skimming scum and fixing filters.

**This review may contain some potential unavoidable spoilers about the basics of “Biosphere,’ spoilerphobes, please beware and return after you have seen the movie.** A film like “Biosphere” poses a genuine conundrum for the film critic, who is tasked with the job of describing, in some detail, a film that counts among its best qualities the element of absurdist surprise. Its only plot description at the time of this writing, on the TIFF website (where it was added, quite close to the festival, as a “special surprise screening”), reads simply, “In the not-too-distant future, the last two men on earth must adapt and evolve to save humanity.” Well, that sounds like any number of science fiction pictures, while “in the not-too-distant future” recalls “Mystery Science Theater 3000.” The film itself falls somewhere in between.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer “Better Call Saul” actor Michael Mando has signed on to star opposite Brian Tyree Henry in Peter Craig and Ridley Scott’s upcoming Apple TV+ series “Sinking Spring,” Variety has learned. Based on the book “Dope Thief” by Dennis Tafoya, Apple’s eight-episode series “Sinking Spring” follows long-time Philly friends and delinquents who pose as DEA agents to rob an unknown house in the countryside, only to have their small-time grift become a life-and-death enterprise, as they unwittingly reveal and unravel the biggest hidden narcotics corridor on the Eastern seaboard. Mando will play the co-lead role of Manny Cespedes, a good-hearted friend of Ray’s (Henry), who he first met when they did time together in the Youth Authority, per the official character description.

Better Call Saul alum Michael Mando is set to star opposite Brian Tyree Henry in Apple TV+’s crime drama series Sinking Spring, from Top Gun: Maverick writer Peter Craig. The series is directed and executive produced by Ridley Scott via his Scott Free Productions.

William Earl Zach Cregger has delivered one of the most twist-filled movies of the year with “Barbarian.” But perhaps the biggest shock to fans is that a member of irreverent sketch group Whitest Kids U’Know switched to horror so effortlessly. For Cregger, the two worlds are not far apart. “I don’t think horror and comedy are too dissimilar,” Cregger says. “The anatomy of a scare is very similar to the anatomy of a laugh. It’s all about timing and tone and zigging when the audience expects you to zag. I feel like my time in sketch comedy has equipped me to play in this pool.” Cregger got advice from a friend who had a similar trajectory: Jordan Peele, who went from sketch comedy series “Key & Peele” to directing his breakout feature “Get Out” and two other horror hits.

Key and Peele are reuniting!

EJ Panaligan editor “Key and Peele” co-creators Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele reunite for leading voice roles in the new teaser for Netflix’s “Wendell & Wild.” The new stop-motion animated comedy horror film from Netflix is director Henry Selick’s first since 2009’s “Coraline.” Based on Clay McLeod Chapman’s unpublished book of the same name, the film follows two demon brothers with scheming tendencies, Wendell and Wild, voiced by Key and Peele respectively, who enlist the help of a 13-year-old named Kat, voiced by Lyric Ross, to summon them back to the Land of the Living. Selick and Peele co-wrote the adapted screenplay. In addition to Key, Peele and Ross, additional cast in the film include Angela Bassett, James Hong, Sam Zelaya, Tamara Smart, Seema Virdi, Ramona Young and Ving Rhames in supporting roles.

Wendell & Wild.Directed by filmmaker Henry Selick, and written by Selick and Jordan Peele, Wendell & Wild followsscheming demon brothers Wendell (Keegan-Michael Key) and Wild (Peele), who enlist the aid of Kat Elliot (Lyric Ross) -- a tough teen with a load of guilt -- to summon them to the Land of the Living. But what Kat demands in return leads to a brilliantly bizarre and comedic adventure like no other.The animated fantasy defies the law of life and death, all told through the handmade artistry of stop motion.Angela Bassett, James Hong, Tamara Smart, Natalie Martinez, Tantoo Cardinal, Gabrielle Dennis, Igal Naor, David Harewood, Maxine Peake, Ramona Young, Sam Zelaya, Seema Virdi, Gary Gatewood and Ving Rhames also star in the film.Wendell & Wild is one of several titles coming to spook Netflix viewers this year, along with Mike Flanagan's new series The Midnight Club, season two of , the previously teased and more. Wendell & Wild premieres Oct.

Henry Selick, the wildly original mastermind behind such extraordinarily conceived feature film animations as “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and “James And The Giant Peach,” marks his first feature film since 2009s unsettling creeper, “Coraline,” in “Wendell & Wild.” Debuting on Netflix later this year, the stop-motion animation, billed as a dark fantasy comedy horror, “Wendell & Wild” is based on a screenplay penned by Selick and Jordan Peele, who also produces and stars in a voice role alongside long time collaborator Keegan-Michael Key.

“Coraline,” since it was the last feature project that Selick completed, is as good a place as any to start when it comes to explaining where the director has been for the past decade. Based on the novel by Neil Gaiman, “Coraline” was released in February 2009.

, Jordan Peele’s third blockbuster horror film, has been revered by fans and critics alike, bringing in more than $149 million since its theatrical debut on July 22, 2022. Now, audiences can bring the awe-inspiring movie home and watch  online.In the US, is now available to rent on Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV+ for $19.99.  is now available to watch from the comfort of your own home on Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV+. Starring actor Daniel Kaluuya,   Steven Yeun, beloved actress Keke Palmer and Brandon Perea,  follows ​​two siblings struggling to run their family’s horse ranch in Southern California.

. Academy Award-winning director Jordan Peele told  he's noticed rabid fans of his sci-fi thriller have paid attention that a character was cut from the film, but his story may be told in the future.More specifically, it was brought to Peele's attention that speculation is rampant on Reddit with fans figuring out a character named Nobody — and credited to actor Michael Busch on IMDb — never actually appeared in the movie. Peele seemed impressed that eagle-eyed fans figured that out before he teased a sequel. «People are doing a lot of interesting detective work,» he told.