Second Nature
Written by Michael Cross, JC Ford, Edi Zanidache
Directed by Michael Cross
Starring Collette Wolfe, Sam Huntington, Carollani Sandberg, Carolyn Cox, Riley Shanahan
80 Minutes
Cross Films | Mirror Images LTD
Release date: November 10, 2016 (Napa Valley Film Festival)

In the small town of Louisburg, WA, Mayor Gleason is having a drunken joyride with his mistress, complete with bonus fellatio and some not so bonus driving right off a cliff. This leaves his position open for election.

Queue Bret and Amanda, who both decide to run for Mayor. Bret and Amanda are not a couple. They were childhood political rivals where he won (of course), and now they work together (he’s the boss, of course). They’re initially presented as stereotypes of their gender — she does yoga and listens to affirmation audio, while he watches sports while having sex — but then things go haywire after they each make a wish about how men and women should act. This is the set-up for Michael Cross‘s gender-swapping political comedy Second Nature, starring Sam Huntington (Sully, Superman Returns, Detroit Rock City) and Collette Wolfe (You’re the Worst, Hot Tub Time Machine).

Long-time director Michael Cross will see the world premiere this week of his feature debut with the gender-swapping political comedy Second Nature. The film stars Collette Wolfe (Hot Tub Time Machine) and Sam Huntington (Superman Returns, Detroit Rock City) as small-town mayoral campaign rivals whose lives are turned upside down after they’re magically transported to a mirrored reality where gender roles are reversed and women are in power. It’s not your typical body-swap comedy, but it definitely deserves an honored place in the subgenre.

We got a chance to talk to Cross about his inspiration for the long-gestating movie, a project funded through Kickstarter; what it was like to film it in his hometown, and to direct his famous photographer cat; how he pulled off such a well-crafted comedy on a limited budget and schedule; what the world would be like if women ruled, and much more.

The director has also given us an exclusive first-look at a pertinent clip from Second Nature, which you can watch here below at the end of the interview.

Just four episodes into season two of Syfy Channel’s “original” series Being Human the network has renewed the series for a third season of 13 episodes.

Viewership for the second season has increased by an impressive +27% in Adults 18-49, +35% in Adults 25-54, and +15% in total viewers; 52% of the viewers are female making Being Human the most female skewing series ever on the network.

Dylan Dog: Dead of Night
Netflix Streaming
DVD | Blu-Ray
Directed by Kevin Munroe
Written by Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer
Based on the comic series by Tiziano Sclavi
Starring Brandon Routh, Sam Huntington, Anita Briem, Peter Stormare, Marco St. John, Kurt Angle, Taye Diggs
Freestyle Releasing
Originally Released: April 29, 2011

Kevin Monroe‘s take on the comic series Dylan Dog, first created by Italian talent Tiziano Slavi, only bears some resemblance to its origins, but is at moments a film based in fun with a wide variety of homages.

Added to Netflix’s streaming selection quite literally just before Thanksgiving, Dylan Dog: Dead Of Night is the category of flick to watch if you enjoy movies in the vein of Indiana Jones or detective mysteries. The feature is essentially a tip of the hat to old style film-noir detective/mystery movies, based within the world of monsters and the unnatural.

Being Human is a new Syfy series that tells the story of three roommates trying to make lives for themselves in the city. The difference in their story and thousands of others is that one of them is a vampire, the other is a werewolf, and the third one is a ghost. In the second episode the group has to deal with the fiancee of the ghost coming over for a visit.

There’s some interesting potential story here from a couple of serialized elements of the show that focuses on other vampires and a family member that learns the truth about her werewolf brother. The question is will the show devolve into cheesy soap opera drama or truly do something interesting with these characters? It’s a little early to tell but the odds are about half and half.

Check out the clip below and share your thoughts.