Exclusive: Karen Read Movie in the Works From Compelling Pictures and Aidan ‘Turtleboy’ Kearney

Happy Friday, folks… in case anyone in Hollywood is still checking their email. It feels like the town already shut down this week in advance of the 4th of July holiday, but as we all know by now, the week ain’t over until this email arrives in your inbox.

Last night, I saw A Quiet Place: Day One, which was OK… but disappointing. Writer-director Michael Sarnoski (Pig) infuses this film with some good ideas — a father who must kill to protect his family, kids hiding within a water fountain… things like that.

But the whole movie — well, most of it, anyway — is played at the level of a whisper. And believe me, I understand the role that silence plays in this franchise, but here, it felt like Sarnoski should’ve just made a movie without any dialogue, for the words exchanged in this film are barely audible in a crowded theater.

Lupita Nyong’o is good, as the Oscar winner always is, and I liked the vulnerability that Joseph Quinn brought to his character, but neither was fleshed out enough for my taste and as adorable as Frodo the Scene-Stealing Cat was, the feline’s inclusion felt a bit like shameless pandering to me.

As soon as I got home, I threw on Gary Sherman’s 1982 crime flick Vice Squad because I’d heard it influenced Ti West’s MaXXXine. The film features a psychotic performance from Wings Hauser, and it wasn’t half-bad overall.

In tonight’s newsletter, you’ll read about the producer with ties to the Boston area who’s teaming with a local journalist to dramatize the Karen Read trial. Plus, there are stories about Dane DeHaan’s new director, a pair of hot projects from Ryan Coogler’s production company, and my thoughts on the trailer for Mel Gibson’s thriller Flight Risk starring Mark Wahlberg.

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