Introducing: Sophie Dalah

 

The star of the brilliantly offbeat new crime-comedy-thriller, Night Drive. 

From weareentertainmentnews.com:

Sophie Dalah loves acting in the thriller-horror genre. Her first job was in Angelina Jolie/Universal Pictures’ UNBROKEN where she portrayed “Virginia Zamperini”, Jack O’Connell’s character’s younger sister.  She is best known for her lead roles in DEAD NIGHT (2017) opposite Daniel Roebuck, Barabara Crampton, and Joy Osmanski and SATANIC (2016) opposite Sarah Hyland, Justin Chon, and Anthony Carrigan. Currently, Dalah can be seen in Brad Baruh & Meghan Leon’s indie feature film NIGHT DRIVE, which is about how a rideshare driver’s life is turned upside down after an unexpected series of misfortunes. The film premiered at Fantastic Fest and Byron Bay Film Festival. We chatted with Sophie about why she loves the horror-thriller genre, her new movie Night Drive and how the quarantine affected her career.

When did you get started in acting?

-I first started acting in high school, I would take dance classes on Saturdays all day. The dance school I went to had an acting class, so one day I decided to take it. My teacher was so inspiring and cool and told us about this book called “The Intent to Live” by Larry Moss. I remember reading it and being so excited. All I wanted to do was finish high school, come to Los Angeles, and attend one of his classes.  

-What is it that appeals to you about the horror-thriller genre? 

Growing up my favorite genre was thriller. I love being confused in a film having that feeling you feel, kind of like a detective, and trying to work it all out.   

-You seem to have several movies that are thrillers.

The thriller/horror life chose me! When I made Satanic, I began to feel comfortable working with these kinds of scripts and I guess that’s what I attracted.  

-Can you tell us more about Night Drive and your character?

While questionable with her morals at times, Charlotte to some extent actually reminds me a lot of myself. She is out here in LA away from her family, trying to make things work. I respect Charlotte a lot. No one can get in her way, and she is unapologetic about it. 

-Night Drive premiered at Fantastic Fest and the Byron Bay Film Festival in October. What an honor! Can you tell us where we can view the film currently?

It was truly an Honor. It’s actually still on the international festival route but we’ll know more in a few weeks!!

-What other upcoming projects are you working on?

I have a few things I’m so excited about but I can’t really talk about the details just yet! Stay tuned!

-How has the quarantine affected your career?

I’ve gotten the chance to cook again! It’s made me think about how I’d love to incorporate cooking into my career. It also taught me a lot about resilience, keeping calm and patient in quieter times all while continuing to work on my craft.  

Fun Facts

-What are some of your favorite hobbies?

Cooking, estate sales, watching movies!

-What other genres of film would you like to try?

I really want to do Comedy 

-Who would you like to work with that you haven’t yet?

Terrence Malick would be a dream!

-Which film star’s style do you love?

Angelina Jolie in the 90s!!!

-What is your favorite fitness tip?

Listen to your body, stay active. 

Thanks for the chat, Sophie. Be sure to catch Sophie in Night Drive. To keep up to date on news about Sophie, follow her on Instagram at @sophiedalah.

What's The Best "Conjuring Universe" Movie?

James Wan's The Conjuring began an extended universe of horror movies that have become some of the biggest box office smash hits the genre has ever seen! But which one is the best?

The Conjuring Universe is an American media franchise and shared universe centred on a series of supernatural horror films. The franchise is produced by New Line Cinema, the Safran Company, and Atomic Monster Productions and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. 

The films present a dramatisation of the real-life cases of Ed and Lorraine Warren, paranormal investigators and authors associated with prominent yet controversial cases of haunting. The main series follows their attempts to assist people who find themselves possessed by demonic spirits, while the spin-off films focus on the origins of some of the entities the Warrens have encountered.

The franchise has been commercially successful, having grossed a combined $2.1 billion against a combined budget of $178 million, becoming the second highest-grossing horror franchise. The franchise has predominantly received positive to mixed reviews.

What to watch? The Conjuring Universe

The first instalment of the series (originally entitled The Warren Files, later retitled The Conjuring) centres on the real-life exploits of Ed and Lorraine Warren, a married couple who investigated paranormal events. Patrick Wilson starred alongside Vera Farmiga in the main roles of Ed and Lorraine. The film focused on the Warrens' 1971 case in which they investigated a witch's curse at a farmhouse in Harrisville, Rhode Island. The Conjuring was released on July 19, 2013, to positive reviews. It earned $318 million worldwide against a budget of $20 million, becoming one of the most profitable horror films in history.

What's the best film in The Conjuring Universe?

The Conjuring universe came back in a big way earlier this summer with the release of The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, which saw Ed and Lorraine Warren face their most terrifying and dangerous case yet.

If you missed it at the cinema, the third movie is out now to buy or rent to watch in the comfort of your own home. It will also be arriving on Sky Cinema and NOW just in time for Halloween on October 29.

As with the other main Conjuring movies, The Devil Made Me Do It brought back Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga as the demonologist duo to explore another real-life case that the Warrens were involved in.

We don't yet know if there will a fourth Conjuring movie, but that doesn't mean there aren't plenty of spooky delights to catch up on in the series. Since the first movie was released in 2013, the series has expanded with a spin-off trilogy for cursed doll Annabelle, as well as The Nun and The Curse of La Llorona.

Watching the series in chronological order might not be as easy as you think though, so if The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It has got you hankering for a series rewatch, we're here to help. [Source: Digital Spy]

Top 10 Films has ranked all 8 films here. 

What To Watch On Netflix: His House

What to watch on Netflix: His House

What To Watch On Netflix: No One Gets Out Alive

What To Watch On Netflix: No One Gets Out Alive

From Wikipedia:

Ambar, an undocumented Mexican immigrant, moves to Cleveland after the death of her mother. She used to take care of her ailing mother and could never live a normal life, as her mother continuously became sick until she relocated to the United States to support her. She finds a dilapidated boarding house run by Red, who demands the first months rent up front, which Ambar gives from a reserve of cash she seems to have saved up for her move. Odd things start happening to her at the new boarding house and out of it. She gives a co-worker the remainder of her savings to obtain a fake ID that will allow her to continue working at her job. The co-worker betrays her, taking the money and quitting the next day.

Unable to receive help from Beto, a distant cousin, and not wanting to return to the house after the visions, Ambar is forced to call Red. They meet at a nearby cafe and Red promises to refund her deposit, but only if she returns to the house, as he claims he does not have enough cash on him. When they return to the boarding house, Ambar confronts Red as the cash is not in her room as promised. Becker, Red's brother, forces Ambar into her room, and she locks herself inside. She is joined in the room by two other Romanian women who are living in the boarding house.

As Red and his brother, Becker, are planning to take the women down to the basement, Beto comes looking for her, but is killed by Becker. Becker commands Red to "prepare" her and the other girls. Red tells her that his dad was an archeologist who brought back a stone box from one of his trips. Something about the box inspired Red's father, along with his mother, Mary, to trap and murder women (the ghosts that Ambar has seen throughout the house). When Red and Becker arrived home after a while, they saw what their father had done. Red wanted to leave, but Becker wanted to stay. Something about sacrificing women to the box improved Becker's health. 

Ambar struggles against Becker as he takes her down the basement. Becker ties Ambar to a stone table in front of an altar where the box sits. After tying her up, Becker opens the box and leaves the room, shutting the door behind him. Ambar begins dreaming about her mother on her deathbed, while a creature slowly emerges from the box and attempts to eat Ambar's head. Ambar is able to wake herself up by killing her mother in the dream, and, by doing so, causes the monster, which seems to be the Aztec goddess Ītzpāpālōtl, associated with the moth seen in the movie, the Rothschildia erycina, to retreat back into the box. 

Ambar hears Becker and Red preparing one of the other immigrant women for sacrifice. She grabs an ancient weapon from the study and goes upstairs. She injures Red and is attacked by Becker. The other immigrant woman tries to help but is killed by him. Amber then kills Becker with the ancient weapon. She hears Red shuffling around in the next room and manages to get him downstairs and tied onto the stone table, where the monster bites off his head, killing him. As she is leaving the house she realizes she has nothing left but is suddenly healed from sacrificing Red to the monster in the box. In the background, Red can be seen as a ghost.

The Best James Bond Movies

 

The best James Bond movies - ranked!

8 Upcoming Films To Look Forward To That Aren't A Remake Or Reboot Or Sequel Or Part Of A Franchise!

Sick of sequels and reboots? Tired of comic book adaptations, franchises and origins stories? Well, here's a bunch of upcoming original films to look forward to.

Spencer review:

Sandringham, Christmas 1991. Bare trees, frosted fields, dead pheasants on the drive. Inside the grand house the dining table has been laid in readiness, but one of the principal guests – arguably the main course – is running late and lost. She grinds her car to a halt, tosses her perfect hair in frustration. “Where the fuck am I?” asks Diana, Princess of Wales.

And so begins this extraordinary film, which bills itself as “a fable from a true tragedy” and spotlights three days in the dissolution of Charles and Di’s marriage. Working off a sharp script by Steven Knight, Chilean director Pablo Larraín spins the headlines and scandals into a full-blown Gothic nightmare, an opulent ice palace of a movie with shades of Rebecca at the edges and a pleasing bat-squeak of absurdity in its portrayal of the royals. Larraín’s approach to the material is rich and intoxicating and altogether magnificent. I won’t call it majestic. That would do this implicitly republican film a disservice.

Jetted in from California, Kristen Stewart proves entirely compelling in the title role. She gives an awkward and mannered performance as Diana, and this is entirely as it should be when one considers that Diana gave an awkward and mannered performance herself, garnishing her inbred posh hauteur with studied coquettish asides. When she broke down, lost her poise, it was like watching a Stepford wife throw a glitch. But Stewart effectively captures the agony of a woman so programmed and insulated that she feels she has no escape and has lost sight of who she is. The servants (well played by Sally Hawkins and Sean Harris) want to help but they are part of the very machine that she hates. They know that if Diana breaks down, the mechanism does too. What matters above all else is to keep the woman up and running. [continue reading at The Guardian]

And last but not least, Turning Red...

Turning Red is an upcoming American computer-animated coming-of-age fantasy comedy film produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar Animation Studios to be distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is written and directed by Domee Shi (in her feature directorial debut), produced by Lindsey Collins, and starring Rosalie Chiang and Sandra Oh.

Turning Red is scheduled to be theatrically released in the United States on March 11, 2022.

Set during the 2000s, Mei Lee is a confident thirteen-year-old Chinese-Canadian girl who is torn between staying her mother's dutiful daughter and the chaos of adolescence. And, as if changes to her interests, relationships, and body weren't enough, whenever she gets too excited or stressed, she "poofs" into a giant red panda.

BFI Distribution & Bohemia Media release REBEL DYKES documentary in UK & Ireland cinemas and digitally on 26 November

BFI Distribution has partnered with Bohemia Media to release the rabble-rousing documentary REBEL DYKES, set in the club and music scene of 1980s post-punk London, in UK and Ireland cinemas on 26 November 2021. On the same date, the film will be released digitally via BFI Player and Bohemia Euphoria.

Directed by Harri Shanahan and Siân A. Williams and produced by Riot Productions’ Siobhan Fahey (one of the original rebel dykes and seen in the film), REBEL DYKES is a labour of love than has been six years in the making. This is the unheard story of how a community of dykes who met doing art, music, politics and sex, went on to change their world.

REBEL DYKES follows a tight-knit group of friends who met at Greenham Common peace camp and became artists, performers, musicians and activists in London. A hot, heady, punky, sexy mash-up of animation, previously unseen rare archive footage and new interviews tells the story of a radical scene: squatters, BDSM nightclubs, anti-Thatcher rallies, protests demanding action around AIDS and the fierce ties of chosen families.

After a popular screening as a work-in-progress at BFI Flare: London LGBTIQ+ Film Festival in 2016, REBEL DYKES came back to BFI Flare with a bang for its World Premiere in March 2021, where, screened digitally via BFI Player, it was one of the hits of the programme.

REBEL DYKES’ own punk credentials run right through its conception and production. The filmmakers are all women and non-binary artists making their first feature film. They met through being in bands and festival organising on the Manchester DIY music scene. The film was mostly funded by crowdfunding by the UK and global LGBTQ community on Crowdfunder, Screen Scotland, Independent Film Trust and David Family Foundation. The archive and music came from the original REBEL DYKES themselves. 

Cinemas screening REBEL DYKES will be listed at www.bfi.org.uk/releases