Wanna Smash?
Forthcoming film The Smashing Machine recently wrapped in Albuquerque after spending much of July shooting. Machine features Dwayne “The Scorpion King” Johnson and Emily “No Nickname” Blunt reunited for the first time since the inexplicable 2021 Jungle Cruise film based on the Disney ride, but rather than hippos and…actually, we didn’t see Jungle Cruise. Anyway, in The Smashing Machine, Johnson plays an MMA-type guy grappling with fame and addiction and such. Blunt is presumably the wife or girlfriend or lover or whatever. Before you roll your eyes, however, know that this one was written by The Curse scribe Benny Safdie, so it might be a little more interesting than those of us who are mystified by the punching/kicking arts might assume. Not only that, but the production counted roughly 180 New Mexico crew members, two principal actors and 79 background talent actors (which is what they call extras now). Expect a 2025 release date.
Cast About
This week heralds more casting calls in New Mexico, including for Slither On In, a forthcoming indie-horror set to shoot around Albuquerque in March. Numerous characters are available, including Dawn, a mid-20s female with a traumatic past that causes her to self-punish; Mason, a mid-20s white dude who lives on his dad’s dime while hiding a terrible secret; and Wilberto, an age-irrelevant Chicano man who likes to crack jokes and loves his job in animal/pest control. If any of these roles sound doable, email slitheroninfilm@gmail.com or check out the special Instagram page @slither.on.in.film.
The Most Hitchcockian
Last time out, this section had an item about the Jean Cocteau Cinema’s transition to what we’d call a revival house cinema, and they’re throwing it back even further at 6:30 pm on Monday, Aug. 26 when Video Library owner Lisa Harris screens Alfred Hitchcock’s 1940 film Rebecca starring Joan Fontaine and Laurence Olivier. Perhaps it’ll surprise you to learn this one’s a dark sort of thriller wherein a young woman marries some hot older aristocrat dude only to find out his former wife died under mysterious circumstances and also there’s a ghost, maybe! Can you hear it if we write “Dun-dun-dun?” Also? It’s free to attend these Video Library events.
Happy B-Day, Vid-Lib!
Speaking of the Video Library and Lisa Harris, we’re not sure how we missed that the oldest still-running video rental shop in the country turned 43 on Aug. 10. In case you’d never heard, video rental businesses sure suffered under the rise of streaming, but Harris keeps it going with hard-to-find movies, personal service and so many things you just won’t get anyplace else (Harris, unlike Amazon or Netflix, likely knows your name if you shop there regularly). Congrats to you, Video Library!