The Little Hours
Written & Directed by Jeff Baena
Starring Aubrey Plaza, Kate Micucci, John C. Reilly, Molly Shannon, Fred Armisen, Alison Brie, Nick Offerman, Dave Franco, Paul Reiser, Jemima Kirke, Paul Weitz
Gunpowder & Sky
Release date: June 30, 2017

When looking for inspiration for modern comedy, I know what you’re thinking”¦ the 14th century! For The Little Hours, writer/director Jeff Baena turns to an odd source, Giovanni Boccaccio’s The Decameron. Written in the late 1300s after the Bubonic Plague ripped Europe apart, The Decameron was a collection of novellas about ten young people living in a secluded villa. The atmosphere and period setting made me instinctively think of Monty Python and the Holy Grail while the tone of the comedy — sex-based and vulgar — brought to mind There’s Something About Mary and Superbad. Somehow these two angles come together to form an oddly unique film that is intriguing throughout and laugh out loud funny at times.

On this week’s The Drill Down podcast, a mega robocaller gets hung up, Tesla dances to its own beats, Alexa checks in, Google gets slammed, beware more ransomware, and much more.

Podcast

It finally happened, Rick and Morty fans! 21 months after the season two finale aired on Adult Swim, an official premiere date has been set for season three. Thankfully that surprise release of the first episode of season three on April Fools Day made the wait a little less painful.

In addition to the release date, a trailer has also been released for the new season which is jam-packed with intriguing peeks at the madness that’s to come. Continue below to check it out now.

The Beguiled
Director: Sofia Coppola
Screenwriter: Sofia Coppola
Cast: Nicole Kidman, Kirsten Dunst, Elle Fanning, Colin Farrell
Distributor: Focus Features
Rated R | 94 Minutes
Release Date: June 23, 2017

Sofia Coppola‘s first short film, 1998’s Lick the Star, follows a clique of teenage girls led by Chloe, who is obsessed with V.C. Andrews’ novel, Flowers in the Attic. Chloe orchestrates a plan with her girl gang to “weaken” the boys they don’t like at their school by poisoning their lunches with arsenic. The 14-minute black and white 16mm short film shows early signs of Coppola’s fascination with the themes of isolation and identity, sexual awakening, and the trauma of adolescence.

Since then, Coppola has explored these ideas in the 18th, 20th, and 21st centuries with Marie Antoinette, The Virgin Suicides, Lost in Translation, Somewhere, and The Bling Ring. Now, the writer-director journeys to the 19th century with The Beguiled, a remake of the 1971 film of the same name, based on the 1966 Southern Gothic novel, A Painted Devil, by Thomas P. Cullinan.

One of the very best decisions that console makers Microsoft and Sony have made, is to offer free games to those who are members of their Xbox Live Gold and PlayStation Plus programs each month. Hundreds of dollars worth of games for free each year. It makes the pill that is having to pay to play (online) much, much easier to swallow.

The free games being offered to PlayStation Plus members for July 2017 have been revealed, and you can see what they are below.