'as Above, So Below' Loses Its Way

It's an inevitable but nonetheless mournful moment for cinema tonight, May 11, as the groundbreaking filmmaker and producer Roger Corman has died at the age of 98. The director was still working right up to the end, and never truly stopped over the past 70 years. Corman directed roughly 50 movies and produced literally hundreds (more than 500, by some estimates), and was a trailblazer for independent film, often working outside the Hollywood system to produce wild, subversive, or nasty movies beloved by many.

Corman’s career took place over seven decades and more than 500 producing credits.

It's been five years since one of the most acclaimed American directors released a film, perhaps because it was an anomaly in his career and one of his worst-reviewed movies. That would be Jim Jarmusch with the 2019 film, The Dead Don't Die. The movie stands out from most of Jarmusch's work as a slightly bigger project with special effects and $3 million of marketing, not to mention its young megastars like Selena Gomez, Adam Driver, and Austin Butler.

John Krasinskis successful vision for a quieter and deadlier on-screen future continues in filmmaker Michael Sarnoskis upcoming A Quiet Place: Day One. However, Day One backtracks before the Abbott family faced off against the so-called alien Listeners in the franchises first installment. The horror prequel centers on the character portrayed by Lupita Nyong'o, who teams up with a familiar face from A Quiet Place Part II: Djimon Hounsou.

Fans of the Planet of the Apes franchise will have their opportunity for another wonderful day, as so decreed by Proximus Caesar, who is portrayed by Kevin Durand in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. Yes, those interested can watch director Wes Balls film in an entirely different light following its theatrical release, because a raw cut of Ball's Kingdom is planned when the sci-fi adventure's physical media eventually drops.

Not only is Mckenna Grace one of the most accomplished young actors working right now, but she has already started to dip her toes into other avenues. Most people might be familiar with her music career, and she has contributed original songs to the soundtracks of both Ghostbusters: Afterlife and Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie, movies in which Mckenna Grace starred.