The stars are aligned for Guillermo del Toro’s “Nightmare Alley,” his adaptation of William Lindsay Gresham’s 1946 noir novel that was quickly turned into a 1947 movie starring Tyrone Power. As GoldDerby writes, The Searchlight movie, out December 17 in theaters only, is among the top early contenders for Best Picture and Best Director according to the Gold Derby odds. “Is he man or beast?” Dafoe’s character, who oversees the fringe carnival where Cooper’s Stanton Carlise initially works, intones twice in the teaser – before and after images of tension, fright and oddity flash across the screen. But Stanton isn’t a werewolf, so much as anti-hero whose soul is corrupted by his decisions. “The carnival is almost like a microcosm of the world,” del Toro told Vanity Fair. “Everybody’s there to swindle everybody. But at the same time in the carnival, the [workers] know they need each other. In the city, much less so.”

It feels *almost* normal to cover a new film release and collect all the available press junket videos – how great to have some film coverage back. Last week, Toni Collette sat down for a virtual press junket for the theatrical releases of “Dream Horse” in the United States and the United Kingdom. Clips from lots of news outlets and the British daytime talkshow Lorraine have been added to the video archive, alongside a couple of new clips from the film. A complete list of all added videos can be found below. Screencaptures from all appearances have been added to the photo gallery as well.

BBC has spoken to the real-life people behind the magical story of “Dream Horse” ahead of the film’s UK release. Despite everything that has happened to Jan Vokes since she came up with the idea of raising a race horse on her allotment near Blackwood 20-years-ago, the surprises keep coming. “My father was a coal miner, and I was born and bred in a little village just up the road so to imagine that my life was going to be played out by a Hollywood A-listed actor, it’s just unbelievable,” she said. That actor is Toni Collette and the film is called Dream Horse. It tells the story of Dream Alliance – raised on an allotment and owned by a syndicate of friends paying £10 a week – he went on to win the Welsh Grand National in 2009. The film has been in the planning for about five years with its release delayed because of the pandemic but it was a story perfect for Hollywood. “In the beginning I couldn’t really see a story there but when you sit down and you think about it, it really is a sort of fairytale,” said Jan. “Dream Alliance was working class like us, he came from nowhere.” The complete article can be read over at the BBC News website.

Jan said she was “taken aback” when she first heard Australian actress Toni Collette would be playing her, thinking producers would have chosen a Welsh actress. “I don’t think she got the Welsh accent quite right but she got away with it,” said Jan, who still works seven days a week, including at the local supermarket as depicted in the film. Collette has admitted she found the Welsh accent a “hard nut to crack”, but told ITV’s Lorraine she enjoyed her time filming in Wales. “I just think the Welsh culture is so rich. They sing at the drop of a hat,” she said. “They are so open and inclusive and even though I felt a little intimidated and nervous, I didn’t want to let the country down, I felt very supported. I will go back again and again, it is such a special place.”

Netflix has released the official Stowaway trailer for their upcoming sci-fi survival thriller film, starring Anna Kendrick, Daniel Dae Kim, Shamier Anderson and Oscar nominee Toni Collette. The video features a three-man crew as they embark on a space mission to Mars. However, things don’t go as smoothly as they prepared for when they discover a stranger has accidentally boarded their ship. The film will be available for streaming on April 22, exclusively on Netflix. This project is Collette’s latest collaboration with the streaming service, who have worked together on 2018’s Wanderlust, 2019’s critically acclaimed Unbelievable and last year’s I’m Thinking of Ending Things. She is also set to star in Netflix’s upcoming thriller drama series titled Pieces of Her which is based on Karin Slaughter’s novel of the same name. On a mission headed to Mars, an unintended stowaway accidentally causes severe damage to the spaceship’s life support systems. Facing dwindling resources and a potentially grim outcome, a medical researcher emerges as the only dissenting voice against the clinical logic of both her commander and the ship’s biologist. The film is directed by Joe Penna from a screenplay he co-wrote with frequent collaborator Ryan Morrison. Penna and Morrison previously worked together on the filmmaker’s feature directorial debut titled Arctic, which first debuted at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival. The upcoming Netflix film has some similarities with the Mads Mikkelsen-led film as they both deal with the themes of survival and sacrifice.

Kids love the live-action educational show Odd Squad, and the parents of those kids are in for a treat the week of January 18, when Oscar-nominated actress Toni Collette guest stars on the Emmy-winning PBS Kids program. According to Fatherly, from Fred Rogers Productions, and targeted to viewers ages 6-9, Odd Squad follows young secret agents who aim to save the day using math when odd things occur, and their talents are really put to the test when Toni Collette arrives on the scene as a mysterious new villain called The Sand Queen. Fatherly is pleased to share an exclusive clip that features Collette joyfully chewing the scenery as The Sand Queen cackles madly, unleashes swirls of sand, tries to outrun the heroes in a funhouse, and uses a potato sack to ride down a slide. Collette never seems to play the same role twice, as evidenced by credits spanning from Muriel’s Wedding, The Sixth Sense, and I’m Thinking of Ending Things to About a Boy, Knives Out, and Unbelievable. Her previous family-friendly fare – including The Magic Pudding, The Boxtrolls, and Blinky Bill The Movie – has been of the animated variety. Whatever the reason Collette signed on, we’re excited to see her summon the sand – and the fun – on Odd Squad. You can watch a preview clip below, pictures have been added to the photo gallery.

The great joy of running a fansite/archive is to come across a rare video or appearance that I have never seen, or, even better, never even knew existed. Such is the case for this 1996 video of baby-faced Toni and Ben Mendelsohn promoting their film “Cosi” on the Australian talkshow “Hey Hey It’s Saturday”. If found the video courtesy a wonderful fansite on Mr. Mendelsohn, which you should pay a visit :-) The appearance can be found in the video archive, screencaptures have been added to the photo gallery.