Movies

MAJOR SPOILERS ahead on the Alicia Vikander movie Earthquake Bird, which premiered November 15 on Netflix.

Alicia Vikander and Riley Keough star in Earthquake Bird, which just premiered on Netflix. The twisty Netflix film, directed by Wash Westmoreland and executive produced by Ridley Scott, is based on the novel by Susanna Jones, and the endings are a bit different in some key ways. For one thing, Teiji doesn’t die in the book. Let’s get into it.

How The Earthquake Bird Movie Builds Toward Its Ending

Alicia Vikander stars in Earthquake Bird as Lucy Fly, who is Swedish — like the actress — in the movie and works as a translator in Japan. (Apparently it was “a lot of work” for Alicia Vikander to learn Japanese, as she said in a behind-the-scenes video.)

The wildly charismatic Naoki Kobayashi plays Teiji, whom Lucy meets when he takes her photograph on the street. They slowly build a unique relationship that is tested by Lucy’s jealousy when she sees Teiji’s past photos of a previous girlfriend, and especially when Lucy meets and befriends Lily Bridges.

In the movie, Lily (Riley Keough) is a free-spirited American who just moved to Japan for a fresh start. Lily and Teiji become close — a little too close — bringing out Lucy’s jealous side. Lily tries to apologize to Lucy, but Lucy turns her away — even though Lily (who has some psychic abilities) says she feels like something bad is going to happen. She’s right!

Earthquake Bird‘s storyline isn’t told in a linear fashion, so when we first meet Lucy she is only just returning to work after taking some time off to grieve her relationship with Teiji and friendship with Lily. She’s told by a co-worker that a body that’s found was suspected to be her friend Lily. Lucy is brought in for questioning and eventually confesses to killing Lily. But she didn’t do it. Turns out, the body they found was not Lily after all. We never even learn who that poor person was.

How The Earthquake Bird Movie Ends

After Lucy randomly tells the police her tragic life story anyway — that she felt responsible for the death of her brother, and had other deaths follow in her life, so she felt responsible for Lily too — she goes to Teiji’s apartment and breaks into his cabinet with all of his photographs. She finds photos of Lily and eventually sees one that shows Lily is dead. Teiji killed her and took the photo.

Lucy takes the folder of photos and brings them to the police station. The detective she knows is not on duty so, for some reason, she doesn’t just give the folder to another cop. She leaves and goes home. Lo and behold, Teiji is waiting for her. He says they could run away together. She rejects the idea and tells him it’s over. So he gets violent and tries to choke her to death on the couch. She reaches behind her and finds some glass to break over his head. A shard gets stuck in his head and he pulls it out, staring at her as he dies — similar to how Lucy described her brother staring back at her as he died, after she jumped down on him in her childhood bullying story.

The Final Scene Of The Earthquake Bird Movie

The Earthquake Bird movie gives a final scene where Lucy goes back to see Mrs. Katoh, her friend and fellow musician. Lucy admits Lily came to see her and asked to come in and Lucy didn’t let her. Mrs. Katoh says it wasn’t Lucy’s fault that Lily died. Lucy insists it was. Mrs. Katoh says perhaps Lily saved her life. Lucy says there are other deaths she also feels responsible for, including Mrs. Yamamoto, who had fallen down Mrs. Katoh’s own stairs earlier in the movie.

Mrs. Katoh then confesses her own feelings of guilt over Mrs. Yamamoto’s death. She tells Lucy she waxed the stairs two days before Mrs. Y fell, something she only does once every two years. She had been worried the steps were slippery. She meant to warn Mrs. Yamamoto earlier that day when they spoke on the phone, but didn’t think of it until they hung up. Mrs. Katoh says it was actually her fault, not Lucy’s.

In the final shot of the movie, Lucy reaches out her hand and she and Mrs. Katoh both cry, with Lucy seeming to find comfort in the idea that she isn’t the only one carrying guilt.

How The Earthquake Bird Book Ends

In the book, Teiji is still the one who killed Lily and we still find out through photographs of dead Lily. However, Lucy does not kill Teiji in the book. Teiji is still alive, and the book ends with Lucy getting chillls, thinking she hears a camera click in the bushes, with Teiji still out there waiting for her.

The book does have a somewhat similar scene toward the end with Lucy and Mrs. Katoh, but it’s before details about Teiji’s photos come out. Lucy tells Mrs. Katoh she didn’t mean to kill Mrs. Yamamoto, it was an accident. She put her cello in a different place and didn’t know Mrs. Yamamoto would fall over it. Mrs. Katoh asks what she’s talking about, since everyone knew Mrs. Yamamoto was always so clumsy and they all knew she’d have an accident one day. That’s as far as that conversation goes.

After that, Lucy — who is English in the book — is cleared by the police with no charges because the cops can’t find any DNA on Lily’s body. After details appear about Lucy in the newspapers, the police receive an envelope with two photographs. The first shows Lily at a McDonalds near Lucy’s place, with the pic taken on the night of the murder, two hours after Lily was seen at Lucy’s front door. The cashier recognized Lily and said she and her male Japanese friend had some kind of argument. The second photograph shows a woman squashed within walls, head lolling to one side. There are no fingerprints on the photos, no way to prove Teiji took them, and the police don’t know he did. But Lucy does. The photos don’t prove that Teiji killed Lily, but they do prove that Lucy didn’t, since she is accounted for elsewhere at that time.

The book ends after a bit of time has passed. Lucy considers a trip to England to see Lily’s parents, who might like a visit from someone who knew Lily in Japan. Lucy also visits with Mrs. Katoh and another friend at Mrs. Katoh’s home in Japan, and that’s where Lucy is at the very end of the book. But the final page has her hearing a noise outside the house and thinking at first it’s an earthquake bird — the humming bird sound after every earthquake. She hears a rustling in the trees and then “the unmistakable sound of a camera clicking.” She looks around for Teiji but only sees trees and bushes. Here are the final lines of the book:

I turn to enter the house, but I know Teiji’s waiting out here for me and I hope that the warmth of the home and of my close friends will be enough to keep me safely indoors. I hope with all my heart it will, and yet —
It is going to be difficult.

So the book ends with the idea that Teiji could still be out there photographing Lucy, unless it’s just in her mind. In the book, Lucy sometimes refers to herself in third person and there’s a similar sense of events getting confused. Throughout the movie, viewers are led to question Lucy as an unreliable narrator, with scenes that suggest Lucy is imagining things, or just remembering something that happened at a different time.

It’s like Joker and Netflix’s Fractured, and so many other movies with ambiguous twist endings that like to keep fans’ guessing (and also, sometimes, confused).

What did you think of Earthquake Bird? Here are more Netflix originals still to come in 2019.

James Cameron is still a brand name filmmaker, but there are some chinks in his armor after Terminator: Dark Fate. He did not direct the movie, but he was heavily involved before Tim Miller’s filming and during editing — and he has taken credit for one twist that upset several fans. I’ve even seen some fans say Cameron’s deep role in Dark Fate made them less excited for his Avatar sequels.

I wasn’t expecting that. I’m not at all rooting for James Cameron or his Avatar sequels to fail — and there are certainly Terminator: Dark Fate defenders — but now I’m wondering if the current box office disappointment may actually hurt the long-term Avatar plan.

I still think Avatar 2 will clean up at the box office — even just for the curiosity alone of how James Cameron will follow-up his former highest-grossing movie of all time. But I’m now slightly less sure James Cameron will still please enough fans to continue for as many Avatar sequels as he’d like. He already filmed Avatar 2 and Avatar 3 and put dates on the board through 2027 for Avatar 4 and Avatar 5. But he also acknowledged that making Avatar 4 and Avatar 5 will depend on box office returns of the first two sequels.

After all, James Cameron envisioned Terminator: Dark Fate to start a new trilogy and it doesn’t look like that will happen now. And there were — maybe still are? — plans for Alita: Battle Angel to continue, but the box office numbers haven’t been where any producer would want them to be. Avatar 2 and Avatar 3 will need to be BIG to justify continuing from there, considering the Avatar sequels are estimated to cost at least $1 billion to make.

James Cameron will always be a legend, but he could use a new win. His reputation for churning out blockbusters is potentially in doubt, since it was a full 10 years ago when Avatar took over from his other film Titanic as the highest-grossing movie of all time. Plus, he did take responsibility for at least one of the controversial choices of Terminator: Dark Fate…

Spoilers ahead for Terminator: Dark Fate.

James Cameron told the L.A. Times it was his idea to kill off John Connor at the start of Terminator: Dark Fate:

I said, ‘Let’s take him out in the first 30 seconds. They’re sitting in a pizzeria, a Terminator walks in and blows him away. You’re one minute into the movie.’ Everybody went, ‘Really? You want to do this?’ I said, yes! You pull the rug out from underneath the entire construct that’s been going on for the last three decades.

It was a bold choice to abruptly kill off John Connor, and it worked for some Terminator: Dark Fate viewers … but not for everyone.

Breaking hearts is nothing new for James Cameron — and, yes, there was room for Jack on that door, dang it — and making confident, bold choices is part of why Cameron has been this successful. But this particular movie broke some hearts while not quite breaking the bank. What do we make of that, and what if anything could it mean for the next big titles on JC’s filmography — his Avatar sequels?

Two years ago, James Cameron explained his ambitious plan for filming his many Avatar sequels:

Avatar 2 and 3 will be captured together and then [go through postproduction] sequentially. Then we go back and capture 4 and 5. They’re all written and they’re all designed, so we literally hit the ground running the day after Avatar 3 comes out, starting capture on 4 and 5 and then post on those and release those. That’s the plan. So, it’s kind of a two-and-two structure.

The first two movies have finished principal photography and now they are in post-production for Avatar 2‘s release in 2021 and Avatar 3‘s release in 2023. Those two are pretty much set in stone. The next two, though? Here’s what James Cameron told Vanity Fair in 2017 about the practical application of this plan:

Most of the actors, the key principals, have all read all four scripts, so they know exactly what their character arcs are, they know where they’re going, they know how to modulate their arc now across the first two films. We all know where we’re supposed to be dramatically in the saga, and that’s great. Let’s face it, if Avatar 2 and 3 don’t make enough money, there’s not going to be a 4 and 5. They’re fully encapsulated stories in and of themselves. It builds across the five films to a greater kind of meta narrative, but they’re fully formed films in their own right….

Yes, Avatar producer Jon Landau also talked about each Avatar title working as a standalone movie. So that’s a safety net if the first two don’t make quite enough to justify making the next two.

Everything can still go exactly the way the Avatar team wants it. Some of the stars of Avatar 2 sound pretty confident, anyway, even giving a little light trash talk to Avengers: Endgame for taking the new title — for now — as highest-grossing movie of all time.

James Cameron was gracious about that loss, too, rightly seeing it as a win for the kind of big movies he’s trying to make in the Avatar sequels. It shows there’s still a big movie audience out there. But they didn’t turn out for Terminator: Dark Fate, and as popular as Alita has become to its supporters, there wasn’t a huge box office for that movie either. JC didn’t direct either film, but his creative thumbprints are on them and his name was a big part of the promotion for the movies.

Weirdly enough, James Cameron may be positioning himself as an underdog before Avatar 2 opens in December 2021. It’s hard to imagine JC ever needing to have a “comeback” but he could get one with the first two Avatar sequels — if Avatar 2 doesn’t just make a lot of money, but also has strong enough box office and word-of-mouth to give another similar win to Avatar 3. He needs both to do well. It’ll be a while before we see if that happens. This wait has been … well, not as long as the wait between T2 and Terminator: Dark Fate, but long.

What do you think? How are you feeling today in November 2019 about the many Avatar sequels? More or less excited than you were before, no change to however you were feeling? Do you think we will see Avatar 5 in theaters someday, in December 2027 or whenever?

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With The Batman scheduled to begin principal photography early next year, it will be a while until we get our first looks at what Matt Reeves’ vision of Gotham City and its population of colorful characters. That said, you can often start forming an idea of whether a movie will be good or bad based on castings, and so far, The Batman has made some excellent hires.

It’s clear on the casting side of things that The Batman is emphasizing true talent and outside-the-box thinking over big names/celebrity status to draw people in. Yes, most of the actors who’ve been announced so far are well-known to one degree or another, but it helps that one wouldn’t have necessarily thought of including them in The Batman, but now that they have been, they’re great fits. Keeping that in mind, I’ve decided to look over everyone who’s been confirmed so far, as well as a few people who’ve only been reported/rumored so far, and explain why they’re welcome additions to this adaptation of the Caped Crusader’s mythology.

Robert Pattinson (Batman)

Admittedly, Robert Pattinson was an out of left field pick to play Batman, and most people still know him best from his time as Edward Cullen in The Twilight Saga movies. Nevertheless, in he years since that franchise wrapped up, Pattinson has primarily acted in independent/lesser-known movies, many of which had dark and dramatic beats. Cosmopolis and Good Time in particular are great examples of why he’ll do well in The Batman’s setting, with the former movie seeing him play a billionaire (albeit not one as morally conscious as Bruce Wayne) and the latter movie being a gritty and crime-ridden tale. The Batman will be familiar territory for Pattinson, it just that this time he’ll be wearing an elaborate costume.

Jeffrey Wright (James Gordon)

Jeffrey Wright has played a number of intense and determined characters over the years, like in Boardwalk Empire and currently in Westworld, and those descriptors fit James Gordon. You have to be intense and determined to enforce the law in a place like Gotham City. But Gordon also serves as the everyman figure in a city where colorful freaks are popping up more frequently. He’s not as flashy as Batman, but he emirates a quiet heroism that’s rarely seen in Gotham City. Wright can bring that energy to The Batman, and hopefully, unlike how J.K. Simmons was used in Justice League, this Gordon will factor prominently into the story.

Zoë Kravitz (Catwoman)

First off, let’s just acknowledge that Zoë Kravitz already has experience playing Catwoman thanks to The LEGO Batman Movie… but we can safely assume The Batman’s version of the character will be different than her animated predecessor who loved saying “Meow.” If this Catwoman is being modeled after how she’s depicted in modern stories, she’ll presumably be more of an anti-hero than straightforward villain who will flirt and may even fight alongside Batman, but ultimately follows her own goals and agenda. Kravitz can channel this balance of sultriness and independence quite well, and she’s also well acquainted to the world of franchise filmmaking thanks to X-Men: First Class, Mad Max: Fury Road and Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, to name a few.

Paul Dano (Riddler)

The Riddler is a lot of things, but physical imposing is not one of them. He relies on his mind to terrorize the denizens of Gotham City, and Paul Dano has shown on several occasions he’s talented at playing characters who favor brains over brawn in their schemes. There Will be Blood and Prisoners particularly demonstrate this, with the latter movies ironically having his character wearing The Riddler’s favorite colors, green and purple. The last big screen interpretation of The Riddler, Jim Carrey’s in Batman Forever, was modeled after the campiness of Frank Gorshin’s in the ‘60s Batman TV series. Dano can give us the cerebral and intimidating Riddler we’ve been waiting for in a movie.

Andy Serkis (Alfred Pennyworth)

Although Andy Serkis is primarily known for his motion-capture work, he’s unquestionably a talented actor when judging him by the conventional performing standards. He’s arguably better known for his villainous work, including his time as Ulysses Klaue in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but he can also play good guys effectively, and he’ll surely do a good job of balancing Alfred Pennyworth’s caring nature towards Bruce Wayne with the tough love and sarcasm. Since Serkis is so far the youngest actor to play Alfred in a live action movie, perhaps that also means he’ll get to be more involved in the movie’s action, making him comparable to the Earth-One and Gotham incarnations of Alfred. And unlike the rest of these actors, Matt Reeves already has experience working with Serkis thanks to the latter two Planet of the Apes reboot movies, so it makes sense why Reeves wanted to bring Serkis aboard The Batman.

Jayme Lawson (Bella)

To be perfectly honest, Jayme Lawson is the hardest person to get a read on for The Batman. She’s a newcomer to the Hollywood stage, having recently graduated from Juilliard and The Batman serving as her first movie. And all we know about her character (who hasn’t been officially confirmed yet) is that Bella is a “grassroots political candidate running for office in Gotham.” Nevertheless, if Matt Reeves decided that Lawson’s acting talents were worth shining a light on in The Batman, then I’m looking forward to seeing what she brings to the table, and hopefully this is just the start of a rewarding career.

Colin Farrell (Penguin)

Unlike all the actors before him, Colin Farrell is still in negotiations to appear in The Batman, so don’t count on him playing The Penguin just yet. Nevertheless, he’s arguably even an more unexpected casting choice than Robert Pattinson was, especially since Penguin was one of two characters Jonah Hill was in consideration to play. But it’s the unconventional choice of Farrell playing Penguin that makes it so exciting. For one thing, rather than resembling the traditional short, stout Penguin, many fans have noticed that Farrell resembles the Penguin from the Batman Telltale games. And while we don’t expect him to get as hammy as he did for Bullseye in Daredevil, Farrell has shown he can have fun playing villains, so while his Penguin will presumably be more subdued than the Danny DeVito version, that doesn’t mean he’ll be any less captivating to watch.

The Batman hits theaters on June 25, 2021, so keep checking back with CinemaBlend for updates on how its coming along, including when more actors are added to the cast. Feel free to also browse through our DC movies guide to learn what else this superhero franchise has in store.