John Cena (Peacemaker) stars as a failed actor who agrees to take on the most challenging (and freeing) role of his life in Prime Video’s Ricky Stanicky. The nearly three-minute trailer introduces a trio of best friends who’ve blamed everything wrong on their imaginary best friend. Enter Cena as that imaginary friend.
Zac Efron (The Iron Claw), Andrew Santino (Dave), and Jermaine Fowler (Sorry to Bother You) star as the BFFs. The cast also includes Lex Scott Davis, Anja Savcic, Jeff Ross, and William H. Macy.
“When three childhood best friends pull a prank gone wrong, they invent the imaginary Ricky Stanicky to get them out of trouble! Twenty years after creating this ‘friend,’ Dean, Jt, and Wes still use the nonexistent Ricky as a handy alibi for their immature behavior. When their spouses and partners get suspicious and demand to finally meet the fabled Mr. Stanicky, the...
Zac Efron (The Iron Claw), Andrew Santino (Dave), and Jermaine Fowler (Sorry to Bother You) star as the BFFs. The cast also includes Lex Scott Davis, Anja Savcic, Jeff Ross, and William H. Macy.
“When three childhood best friends pull a prank gone wrong, they invent the imaginary Ricky Stanicky to get them out of trouble! Twenty years after creating this ‘friend,’ Dean, Jt, and Wes still use the nonexistent Ricky as a handy alibi for their immature behavior. When their spouses and partners get suspicious and demand to finally meet the fabled Mr. Stanicky, the...
- 1/26/2024
- by Rebecca Murray
- Showbiz Junkies
Long before A24 produced Sean Durkin's emotionally obliterating drama "The Iron Claw" (read our review here), the stars at the center of the story, The Von Erichs, were wrestling royalty. It's difficult to fully encompass just how huge the Von Erich Boys were, both in size/stature and popularity. These were wrestlers so famous they appeared in commercials, had their own comic book series, and were known the world over without the assistance of national television or the internet. In fact, Durkin grew up watching old VHS tapes of Von Erich matches that took place in Texas while he was living in England. This is to say that if you know where to look, there's a hell of a lot of Von Erich merch floating out there. Autographed photos, T-shirts, bandanas, trading cards, posters, magazines, replica belts, and even the World Class Wrestling Von Erich-themed board game, are ready...
- 1/18/2024
- by BJ Colangelo
- Slash Film
While The Iron Claw is earning high marks from critics and viewers alike (with an enviable A-Cinemascore rating), wrestling fans – who mostly love the film – have one issue with it. They don’t like the way wrestling legend Ric Flair was depicted, with many saying he came off as cartoonish. It’s not that Flair is depicted in a negative way; it’s just that fans feel the actor, Aaron Dean Eisenberg, wasn’t able to capture the legendary wrestler’s charisma in a way that makes sense.
“Well, look, what he (director Sean Durkin) should have done is use archival footage of Ric Flair and then have this guy maybe come in and do the mannerisms of Ric Flair in the ring,” said our own Travis Hopson (who also has his own site), who gave the film a very positive review but noted that as his only problem with the film.
“Well, look, what he (director Sean Durkin) should have done is use archival footage of Ric Flair and then have this guy maybe come in and do the mannerisms of Ric Flair in the ring,” said our own Travis Hopson (who also has his own site), who gave the film a very positive review but noted that as his only problem with the film.
- 12/26/2023
- by Chris Bumbray
- JoBlo.com
In the small group of celebrities who have tried out professional wrestling, most have been absolute flops: New York Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor main eventing WrestleMania XI was an embarrassment, while David Arquette winning the WCW World Heavyweight Championship remains one of the worst stunts in pro wrestling history (and that’s saying something). In fairness, Logan Paul is a genuine talent and even Bad Bunny has proven capable in the ring, but they are definitely outliers. Now, one prominent pro wrestling roster may find itself bulking up, as The Iron Claw stars Zac Efron and Jeremy Allen White expressed interest in stepping into the squared circle.
As Efron – who plays Kevin Von Erich of the famed wrestling dynasty in The Iron Claw – told The Ringer’s The Masked Man Show, he would enter the ring under certain stipulations. “It’d be fun if we could get in there with...
As Efron – who plays Kevin Von Erich of the famed wrestling dynasty in The Iron Claw – told The Ringer’s The Masked Man Show, he would enter the ring under certain stipulations. “It’d be fun if we could get in there with...
- 12/23/2023
- by Mathew Plale
- JoBlo.com
The Von Erichs were the first family of Lone Star professional wrestling in the late 1970s and 1980s, a dynasty of Dallas-based all-stars who took on all comers throughout the North Texas circuit. First there was Fritz Von Erich, the patriarch who’d begun his career in the 1950s and eventually became president of the World Class Championship Wrestling organization. Then came Kevin, the second oldest of the Von Erich brood of sons (the oldest, Jack, had died as a child) who was being groomed to be the world heavyweight champion.
- 12/20/2023
- by David Fear
- Rollingstone.com
Plot: The true story of the inseparable Von Erich brothers, part of a professional wrestling dynasty in the early 1980s, as they endure tragedy and triumph under the shadow of their domineering father and coach.
Review: The Iron Claw is a film that a lot of people in the movie and professional wrestling communities have been looking forward to. Especially after the episode of Dark Side of the Ring on the Von Erich “curse”, fascination with the subject has soared like a Kevin Von Erich flying crossbody. For me, too, having loved professional wrestling since I was a child, and having seen a lot of the Von Erich tragedy play out, I wondered how in the world Sean Durkin could turn this into a story that audiences could enjoy.
I’m not sure he accomplished that last bit. Don’t get me wrong; The Iron Claw is an incredible film; a harrowing,...
Review: The Iron Claw is a film that a lot of people in the movie and professional wrestling communities have been looking forward to. Especially after the episode of Dark Side of the Ring on the Von Erich “curse”, fascination with the subject has soared like a Kevin Von Erich flying crossbody. For me, too, having loved professional wrestling since I was a child, and having seen a lot of the Von Erich tragedy play out, I wondered how in the world Sean Durkin could turn this into a story that audiences could enjoy.
I’m not sure he accomplished that last bit. Don’t get me wrong; The Iron Claw is an incredible film; a harrowing,...
- 12/20/2023
- by Travis Hopson
- JoBlo.com
This review contains spoilers for "The Iron Claw."
The world of professional wrestling is filled with enough tragedy to constitute its own dedicated documentary series about it, but there has never been a story of familial annihilation quite like the Von Erichs. Often compared to the Kennedy family, the Von Erichs were/are a dynasty of wrestling superstars and the subject of unimaginable despair. Telling their story outside of a documentary setting seems an impossible task, but Sean Durkin has done the impossible with "The Iron Claw." While marketed as a biopic, "The Iron Claw" is more like a dramatic retelling of the Von Erich story — a legend retold blow by blow and presented as if it were modern folklore. And yet despite the creative liberties taken — including a glaring omission (more on that later) — "The Iron Claw" is the type of drama that makes a home in the darkest...
The world of professional wrestling is filled with enough tragedy to constitute its own dedicated documentary series about it, but there has never been a story of familial annihilation quite like the Von Erichs. Often compared to the Kennedy family, the Von Erichs were/are a dynasty of wrestling superstars and the subject of unimaginable despair. Telling their story outside of a documentary setting seems an impossible task, but Sean Durkin has done the impossible with "The Iron Claw." While marketed as a biopic, "The Iron Claw" is more like a dramatic retelling of the Von Erich story — a legend retold blow by blow and presented as if it were modern folklore. And yet despite the creative liberties taken — including a glaring omission (more on that later) — "The Iron Claw" is the type of drama that makes a home in the darkest...
- 12/12/2023
- by BJ Colangelo
- Slash Film
Gladiators, pain freaks, brutes, clowns, true athletes, fake competitors: The slab-of-meat stars of professional wrestling are all those things. And back in the 1980s, when wrestling was reaching its cultural zenith, it almost looked as if you could divide the world between those who took wrestling on the level and those who dismissed it as a vulgar, over-the-top bad joke.
Yet it was never that simple. Even if you saw through the put-on nature of wrestling, you could still get off on the theater of it as cartoon spectacle. And a great many hard-core wrestling fans were actually in on the joke. They knew, on some level, that they were watching staged antics, yet that didn’t keep them from experiencing it all as “real.” If you’re wondering how that kind of cognitive dissonance works, welcome to the America that pro wrestling helped to usher in — an America in which Donald Trump,...
Yet it was never that simple. Even if you saw through the put-on nature of wrestling, you could still get off on the theater of it as cartoon spectacle. And a great many hard-core wrestling fans were actually in on the joke. They knew, on some level, that they were watching staged antics, yet that didn’t keep them from experiencing it all as “real.” If you’re wondering how that kind of cognitive dissonance works, welcome to the America that pro wrestling helped to usher in — an America in which Donald Trump,...
- 12/12/2023
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
Martin Scorsese’s Western historical epic Killers of the Flower Moon on Wednesday was named Best Film by the National Board of Review, the second major awards honor for the Apple Original Films pic this week after it also won the top prize from the New York Film Critics Circle.
Scorsese was also picked as NBR’s Best Director, while Lily Gladstone repeated her Nyfccc feat by being named Best Actress. She stars in the pic as Mollie Burkhart, an Osage woman who was married to white settler Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio) in the true story about the Reign of Terror in 1920s Oklahoma. Robert De Niro also stars in the script written by Scorsese and Eric Roth based on David Grann’s bestseller.
Flower Moon‘s got four wins today including for Rodrigo Prieto’s cinematography; he was cited for his work both for Scorsese and as Dp on Barbie.
Scorsese was also picked as NBR’s Best Director, while Lily Gladstone repeated her Nyfccc feat by being named Best Actress. She stars in the pic as Mollie Burkhart, an Osage woman who was married to white settler Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio) in the true story about the Reign of Terror in 1920s Oklahoma. Robert De Niro also stars in the script written by Scorsese and Eric Roth based on David Grann’s bestseller.
Flower Moon‘s got four wins today including for Rodrigo Prieto’s cinematography; he was cited for his work both for Scorsese and as Dp on Barbie.
- 12/6/2023
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
After a period of speculation prolonged by the double strike, A24 has officially confirmed the cast set for its erotic thriller Babygirl, marking a reteam with Bodies Bodies Bodies helmer Halina Reijn. Nicole Kidman (The Undoing), Antonio Banderas (Pain and Glory) and Harris Dickinson (The Iron Claw) lead an ensemble that also includes Talk to Me‘s Sophie Wilde and Jean Reno (Léon: The Professional).
In the film written and directed by Reijn, a successful CEO begins an illicit affair with her much younger intern. David Hinojosa of 2Am will produce alongside Reijn of Man Up Film and A24, which is financing the project. Julia Oh, Zach Nutman and Christine D’Souza Gelb of 2Am will serve as exec producers.
Reijn comes to make Babygirl with A24 after collaborating with the studio on her critically acclaimed satirical slasher Bodies Bodies Bodies, which world premiered out of SXSW. She previously saw her 2019 directorial debut Instinct,...
In the film written and directed by Reijn, a successful CEO begins an illicit affair with her much younger intern. David Hinojosa of 2Am will produce alongside Reijn of Man Up Film and A24, which is financing the project. Julia Oh, Zach Nutman and Christine D’Souza Gelb of 2Am will serve as exec producers.
Reijn comes to make Babygirl with A24 after collaborating with the studio on her critically acclaimed satirical slasher Bodies Bodies Bodies, which world premiered out of SXSW. She previously saw her 2019 directorial debut Instinct,...
- 11/21/2023
- by Matt Grobar and Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
I hope you’ve brought your appetite because the stars of A24’s The Iron Claw are cooking up some fierce looks for Entertainment Weekly as part of an extensive cover shoot. The Sean Durkin-directed wrestling drama features Jeremy Allen White, Zac Efron, and Harris Dickinson as the Von Erich brothers, an unforgettable trio in the intensely competitive world of professional wrestling. EW recently teamed up with the triumvirate for a stylish cover shoot that’s sure to have you craving biscuits and smelling the sweat of a hard day’s work.
Here’s the official synopsis for The Iron Claw:
The true story of the inseparable Von Erich brothers, who made history in the intensely competitive world of professional wrestling in the early 1980s. Through tragedy and triumph, under the shadow of their domineering father and coach, the brothers seek larger-than-life immortality on the biggest stage in sports.
Here’s the official synopsis for The Iron Claw:
The true story of the inseparable Von Erich brothers, who made history in the intensely competitive world of professional wrestling in the early 1980s. Through tragedy and triumph, under the shadow of their domineering father and coach, the brothers seek larger-than-life immortality on the biggest stage in sports.
- 11/6/2023
- by Steve Seigh
- JoBlo.com
The forthcoming prequel in the Hunger Games franchise has landed an interim agreement from SAG-AFTRA ahead of its release next month.
This means that The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, the Lionsgate feature hitting theaters Nov. 17, can have its onscreen talent promote the film in the coming weeks. Francis Lawrence directs a cast that includes Rachel Zegler, Tom Blyth, Peter Dinklage, Hunter Schafer, Jason Schwartzman, Josh Andrés Rivera and Viola Davis.
The film is eligible because Lionsgate is not part of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which is currently engaged in negotiations with SAG-AFTRA amid the actors strike.
Other recent projects to have received an interim agreement for publicity purposes include Bleecker Street’s What Happens Later, A24’s Priscilla and Iron Claw, Neon’s Ferrari and concert film Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour.
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This means that The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, the Lionsgate feature hitting theaters Nov. 17, can have its onscreen talent promote the film in the coming weeks. Francis Lawrence directs a cast that includes Rachel Zegler, Tom Blyth, Peter Dinklage, Hunter Schafer, Jason Schwartzman, Josh Andrés Rivera and Viola Davis.
The film is eligible because Lionsgate is not part of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which is currently engaged in negotiations with SAG-AFTRA amid the actors strike.
Other recent projects to have received an interim agreement for publicity purposes include Bleecker Street’s What Happens Later, A24’s Priscilla and Iron Claw, Neon’s Ferrari and concert film Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour.
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- 10/30/2023
- by Ryan Gajewski
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Meg Ryan’s much-anticipated return to the rom-com, What Happens Later, has landed an interim agreement from SAG-AFTRA ahead of its Nov. 3 theatrical release.
Bleecker Street is releasing the film nationwide, which stars David Duchovny and Ryan as a former couple who get snowed in at a regional airport overnight. The synopsis of the film reads: “Indefinitely delayed, Willa (Ryan), a magical thinker, and Bill (Duchovny), a catastrophic one, find themselves just as attracted to and annoyed by one another as they did decades earlier. But as they unpack the riddle of their mutual past and compare their lives to the dreams they once shared, they begin to wonder if their reunion is mere coincidence, or something more enchanted.”
The film is seen as a nod to Ryan’s longtime collaborator Nora Ephron, who directed the star in Sleepless in Seattle and You’ve Got Mail, among other titles.
Ryan directed What Happens Later,...
Bleecker Street is releasing the film nationwide, which stars David Duchovny and Ryan as a former couple who get snowed in at a regional airport overnight. The synopsis of the film reads: “Indefinitely delayed, Willa (Ryan), a magical thinker, and Bill (Duchovny), a catastrophic one, find themselves just as attracted to and annoyed by one another as they did decades earlier. But as they unpack the riddle of their mutual past and compare their lives to the dreams they once shared, they begin to wonder if their reunion is mere coincidence, or something more enchanted.”
The film is seen as a nod to Ryan’s longtime collaborator Nora Ephron, who directed the star in Sleepless in Seattle and You’ve Got Mail, among other titles.
Ryan directed What Happens Later,...
- 10/18/2023
- by Mia Galuppo
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
A24 and German mini-major Leonine Studios have set up a joint venture, originally named A24 | Leonine Studios, to release films in Germany and Austria. The first films to go out under the new banner will be David Michôd’s Wizards! starring Orlando Bloom, Naomi Scott and Pete Davidson and The Iron Claw, Sean Durkin’s wrestling biopic of starring Zac Efron, Lily James, Harris Dickinson and Jeremy Allen White.
Wizards! follows two hapless pothead beach-bar operators who run into trouble when they stumble across stolen loot that they really should have just left alone. Iron Claw is centered around the Von Erich family, a dynasty of wrestlers from the 1960s onwards that had enormous success and greatly influenced the sport.
Leonine has had success with A24 titles in the German-speaking market, including Oscar winner Everything Everywhere All At Once, which sold more than 380,000 tickets in Germany and Austria, grossing more than $3.2 million.
Wizards! follows two hapless pothead beach-bar operators who run into trouble when they stumble across stolen loot that they really should have just left alone. Iron Claw is centered around the Von Erich family, a dynasty of wrestlers from the 1960s onwards that had enormous success and greatly influenced the sport.
Leonine has had success with A24 titles in the German-speaking market, including Oscar winner Everything Everywhere All At Once, which sold more than 380,000 tickets in Germany and Austria, grossing more than $3.2 million.
- 5/17/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Good afternoon, Insiders. Jesse Whittock back again this week, taking you through the week’s top headlines, with reports from LA, Greece and the Qatar World Cup. Here we go.
The World’s Watching Qatar
Kirill Kudryavtsev/Afp via Getty Images
World Cup worries: The world’s largest sports tournament, the FIFA World Cup, starts on November 20 and there is no shortage of controversy. Host country Qatar has a poor human rights record, something that is in the spotlight now more than ever. Max and I have spent the past few weeks investigating how broadcasters, sponsors and pundits will the event given Qatar’s disappointing record on LGBTQ+ and women’s rights and the shocking treatment of migrant workers. Who is boycotting, who is speaking out and what campaigns are running? Obviously, TV companies have to run their coverage – the tournament itself will supplant the regular European soccer seasons during...
The World’s Watching Qatar
Kirill Kudryavtsev/Afp via Getty Images
World Cup worries: The world’s largest sports tournament, the FIFA World Cup, starts on November 20 and there is no shortage of controversy. Host country Qatar has a poor human rights record, something that is in the spotlight now more than ever. Max and I have spent the past few weeks investigating how broadcasters, sponsors and pundits will the event given Qatar’s disappointing record on LGBTQ+ and women’s rights and the shocking treatment of migrant workers. Who is boycotting, who is speaking out and what campaigns are running? Obviously, TV companies have to run their coverage – the tournament itself will supplant the regular European soccer seasons during...
- 11/11/2022
- by Jesse Whittock
- Deadline Film + TV
Every day, more and more films are added to the various streaming services out there, ranging from Netflix to YouTube, and are hitting the airwaves via movie-centric networks like TCM. Therefore, sifting through all of these pictures can be a tedious and often times confounding or difficult ordeal. But, that’s why we’re here. Every week, Joshua brings you five films to put at the top of your queue, add to your playlist, or grab off of VOD to make your weekend a little more eventful. Here is this week’s top five, in this week’s Armchair Vacation.
5. Forbidden Empire (VOD)
While fantasy narratives, period costuming and CGI effects are often left for either the studio Oscar bait season or the occasional Hollywood blockbuster, lower and lower budget indie releases are getting access to higher and higher quality below-the-line craft work. Take Oleg Stepchenko’s Forbidden Empire for example.
5. Forbidden Empire (VOD)
While fantasy narratives, period costuming and CGI effects are often left for either the studio Oscar bait season or the occasional Hollywood blockbuster, lower and lower budget indie releases are getting access to higher and higher quality below-the-line craft work. Take Oleg Stepchenko’s Forbidden Empire for example.
- 5/30/2015
- by Joshua Brunsting
- CriterionCast
WWE.com
Submission holds are an integral part of professional wrestling, despite how it changes over time. Some of the greatest wrestlers of all time, such as Bret Hart, Kurt Angle, Bob Backlund, Daniel Bryan and many others, have relied on such holds as their finishing maneuvers, instead of the usual grapple moves or strike attacks.
Some submission holds are simple, holding one part of the body and stretching it as much as possible. Others are a bit more complex, and require both user and victim to be in specific positions for the hold to work perfectly.
In a previous article on WhatCulture.com, a fellow writer submitted what they considered the deadliest submission holds ever:
That list contains many well-known submission holds that will not be seen on this list. They are: the Ankle Lock, Camel Clutch, Last Chancery, Iron Claw, Stepover Toehold, Crossface, Bearhug, Figure-4 Leglock, Sleeper Hold,...
Submission holds are an integral part of professional wrestling, despite how it changes over time. Some of the greatest wrestlers of all time, such as Bret Hart, Kurt Angle, Bob Backlund, Daniel Bryan and many others, have relied on such holds as their finishing maneuvers, instead of the usual grapple moves or strike attacks.
Some submission holds are simple, holding one part of the body and stretching it as much as possible. Others are a bit more complex, and require both user and victim to be in specific positions for the hold to work perfectly.
In a previous article on WhatCulture.com, a fellow writer submitted what they considered the deadliest submission holds ever:
That list contains many well-known submission holds that will not be seen on this list. They are: the Ankle Lock, Camel Clutch, Last Chancery, Iron Claw, Stepover Toehold, Crossface, Bearhug, Figure-4 Leglock, Sleeper Hold,...
- 2/3/2015
- by Alexander Podgorski
- Obsessed with Film
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