Latest news with #JoshRuben
Egypt Today
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Egypt Today
FIVE reasons why rom-com slasher HEART EYES is all the rage!
HEART EYES, an American romantic comedy slasher film directed by Josh Ruben, is set for release in Egyptian cinemas on May 7th, courtesy of Fourstar Films. Here are five reasons to get excited and hit the theatres: ● It's a heart-eyed slasher! Seriously, how often do we get such a uniquely twisted blend? As gore is romantically offset by witty quips and one-liners, the film is sure to offer viewers a night to remember. ● An eerily original story: For the past several years, the 'Heart Eyes Killer' has wreaked havoc on Valentine's Day by stalking and murdering romantic couples. This Valentine's Day, no couple is safe. Cupid's arrow sure won't miss. ● With rave reviews all around, the film has performed remarkably well in such a short span of time, currently holding an 81% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and garnering significant praise across social media platforms. ● The perfect flick to pick, whether you're out with friends or on a date night out with your SO, HEART EYES is sure to hit the bullseye as the prime cinema pick on a night out. ● A heart-gripping cast: Olivia Holt and Mason Gooding play coltish coworkers Ally and Jay — who are, rather unfortunately, mistaken for a couple— alongside stars Gigi Zumbado, Michaela Watkins, Lauren O'Hara, Alex Walker, and Amy L. Workman (TEEN WOLF). Get ready to brandish those emojis to your own heart's content, as you post about your experience watching HEART EYES — an all-new slasher in cinemas across Egypt starting May 7th.
Yahoo
08-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Box Office: ‘Heart Eyes' and ‘Love Hurts' Battle for Super Bowl Scraps as ‘Dog Man' Stays No. 1
DreamWorks Animation and Universal's family film Dog Man isn't having any trouble staying atop the box office in its second weekend with an expected $13.7 million from 3,886 theaters as new offerings Heart Eyes and Love Hurts battle for Super Bowl scraps. That should put Dog Man's domestic total at a pleasing $54.1 million through Sunday (the pic cost a modest $40 million or so to produce). More from The Hollywood Reporter How 'Heart Eyes' Has Helped Director Josh Ruben Heal After Losing His Home in the L.A. Wildfires 'Love Hurts' Star Ariana DeBose Is Grateful That She Got to Present Ke Huy Quan's Oscar "Free of Any Controversy" Imax Records Its Best Chinese New Year Box Office Return With $53M Super Bowl weekend has always been a challenge for Hollywood studios since moviegoing plummets dramatically on the day of the big game (this year's championship game sees last year's victor the Kansas City Chiefs face off against the Philadelphia Eagles). Movies targeting younger females and genre titles appealing to younger audiences are a favorite go-to in terms of movies daring to open over Super Bowl weekend, and this year is no different, although it's more weighted on the genre side this time out. Heart Eyes, a Valentine's Day-themed rom-com from Sony's Screen Gems and Spyglass, looks to open in second place behind Dog Man with a projected $8.5 million to $10 million from 3,102 theaters after narrowly topping Friday's chart with $3.6 million. The film revolves around a masked killer — yes, the mask is in the shape of a heart — who travels from city to city finding a couple to kill on Feb. 14. Directed by Josh Ruben, the slasher pic stars Mason Gooding, Jordana Brewster and Olivia Holt. Earning decent reviews, Heart Eyes didn't fare quite as well with audiences, which gave the pic a B- CinemaScore. Universal's Love Hurts is opening in third place with an expected $6 million from 3,200 theaters. The action pic revolves around a seemingly ordinary real estate agent who is trying to outrun his violent past and stars Oscar-winning Everything Everywhere All at Once actor Ke Huy Quan opposite Daniel Wu, Ariana DeBose and Marshawn Lynch. The diverse cast also includes former NFL running back and Super Bowl champion Marshawn 'Beast Mode' Lynch. David Leitch of the John Wick franchise is among the film's producers. Critics have bashed the film, while audiences gave it a C+ CinemaScore. Produced by 87North's Kelly McCormick and Leitch, Love Hurts is written by Matthew Murray and helmed by JoJo Eusebio in his directorial debut. Disney's Thanksgiving Mufasa: The Lion King is holding at No. 8 all the way in its eighth weekend and is expected to gross $4.2 million from 2,945 theaters for a domestic cume north of $235 million. To say there's a glut of genre content is an understatement. New Line and Warner Bros.' sci-fi Companion pic is coming in fifth in its second weekend with an estimated $3.4 million for a 10-day domestic total of $16.2 million. Numbers will be updated Sunday morning. Best of The Hollywood Reporter The Best Anti-Fascist Films of All Time Dinosaurs, Zombies and More 'Wicked': The Most Anticipated Movies of 2025 From 'A Complete Unknown' to 'Selena' to 'Ray': 33 Notable Music Biopics
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Heart Eyes' Review: ‘My Bloody Valentine' Meets ‘Set It Up' in Josh Ruben's Brilliant Horror Rom-Com
Throughout Josh Ruben's brilliant new Valentine's Day slasher 'Heart Eyes,' potential suspects and would-be victims reference real romantic comedies. 'My Best Friend's Wedding.' 'Crazy Stupid Love.' 'Pretty Woman.' Whatever your preferred chick flick — combined with the predator-prey mania of 'My Bloody Valentine' (and just a touch of the goofiness in 'Scream 6') — that should be enough to compel you toward this giddy and graphic whodunit. It's a freaky celebration that confirms holiday horror, if it ever left, is so back, and a standout achievement in the deceptively dense category of recent romances across genre comedy. Silly, slick, and self-aware, the latest farce from the 'Werewolves Within' director is laugh-out-loud funny and boasts pops of gore that earn the comparison to Eli Roth's 'Thanksgiving.' Although the killer pilgrim movie from 2023 is more stomach-churning than Ruben's film, this nutty blend of hyper-violence and one-liners is a dark comedic delicacy. Characters choke down blood like chocolate and the zippy script (written by Phillip Murphy and Christopher Landon & Michael Kennedy) pairs well with two charismatic leads. And in a universe where chemistry is a lethal liability, stars Olivia Holt and Mason Gooding will put you on the edge of your seat — or maybe your date's lap — faster than you can say 'meat cute.' More from IndieWire Netflix to Host Free Theater Series 'Strong Black Lead' for Black History Month Good News and Bad News, AMC Stubs A-List Members A marketing professional for a jewelry company, Ally McCabe (Holt) sees her career collide with true crime headlines when the 'Heart Eyes Killer' ('HEK' for short) arrives in Seattle. A vicious villain known for attacking couples on February 14, the masked murderer dispatched more than a dozen people between Boston and Philadelphia. Unfortunately, news of those tragic events failed to reach our heroine before her ridiculous boss (Michaela Watkins) approved a star-crossed lovers theme for their brand's national ad campaign. The homicide-laden promotional push, influenced as much by Ally's lackluster dating life as anything else, puts her on the receiving end of an involuntary rescue from the hunky freelancer/'consumer cupid' Jay Simmonds (Gooding) just hours away from the Big V. Generally, you should avoid getting attached to the most likable characters in a horror movie. They don't often die first, but they tend to die eventually. And who needs that heartbreak? Resistance is futile when it comes to the unlucky lovebirds in 'Heart Eyes' though, as the budding relationship between the reluctant Ally and the suave Jay confidently holds focus against the weight of a literal massacre. Their adorable office-born romance mutates from a will-they-won't-they into a deadly could-they-should-they. Caught somewhere between an upper-crust Netflix rom-com and a contemporary 'Scary Movie,' the not-couple is forced to flee danger and manage their obvious attraction to one another simultaneously. Will a clandestine kiss on the sidewalk put the so-called 'colleagues' in HEK's crosshairs? The smooch was just a tactic to make Ally's ex jealous, obviously, but such a sudden and spectacular display of passion does put them on a collision course with local authorities. Detectives Hobbs (Devon Sawa) and Shaw (Jordana Brewster) — strong contenders for this year's best joke character names — pick through clues with all the urgency of a school kid deciphering a crush via flower petals. The uselessness of law enforcement can be overplayed in some lesser horror films to the point of losing tension. But when Shaw swipes through a dating app in the middle of a blood-soaked crime scene, 'Heart Eyes' establishes its unique and playful tone. Whether it's Ally's best friend Monica (Gigi Zumbado) chatting about her arthritis-addled sugar daddy, or Ally and Jay finding a moment to almost kiss after almost getting killed, the clash between light and dark grows steadily more hilarious. Swinging wildly between beats that will make you laugh and then scream, the chaos in 'Heart Eyes' steadily builds without the humor growing stale or undercutting too much terror. Editor Brett W. Bachman ('Mandy,' 'Pig') keeps the pace at just right the speed in dialogue-heavy scenes that might veer too close to a psychotic 'Gilmore Girls' otherwise. Several impressive monologues, including a cynical diatribe from Ally in a restaurant that grounds much of the first act, demonstrate Ruben's knack for keeping his actors in the same movie. The buttoned-up leading lady is complex enough to earnestly sell the emotional arc of a woman who is criminally unlucky in love, while Jay is a hopeless idealist who is immediately interested in her but has enough self-respect to stay sexy. Punny jokes from minor characters (think 'I'll end you – on YELP!') evoke the strange cheeriness of a twisted greeting card, but the centerpiece relationship is refreshingly personable and authentic. The perfect length for a first date, 'Heart Eyes' boasts a dazzling plot that goes places quickly. It's a highly re-watchable trick you'll want to see pulled off twice, but Ruben might do well to rethink this world's visual style if it turns into a multi-film commitment. The HEK mask design, evocative of a demented emoji, is haunting and the neon flourish around the literal heart eyes makes for a menacing 'Silence of the Lambs' basement effect. And yet, for whatever reason, the director chooses to embrace a sort of gray wintery-ness across the rest of the film that's evocative of 'My Bloody Valentine' but makes for a sometimes muddied look. (With so much pink and red at your disposal, I'm just not sure why you would let a story this colorful look so… bland?) More rose than thorn and more situation than -ship, 'Heart Eyes' will still be love at first sight for audiences drawn to favorites like 'Warm Bodies,' 'Lisa Frankenstein,' 'Heathers,' and more. Riffing on the often sexist tropes of the romance genre while exploring the controversial nature of the slasher genre is a difficult task. And yet, Ruben turns the grizzly ordeal into a film so screamingly likable you'll not only be rooting for his main characters to survive, but you'll welcome the director's smile-inducing cameo with open arms. If movies like 'Halloween' (2018) have taught us anything, it's that Happily Ever After isn't always possible for characters in a horror movie. With 'Heart Eyes,' that's a particularly bittersweet reality — but a great excuse for a sequel audiences will almost certainly want. Ally and Jay may prove too good of characters to make it to morning, but Ruben's latest film officially hard launches the director as horror comedy's quirky new boyfriend. From Screen Gems and Spyglass Media Group, 'Heart Eyes' is in theaters nationwide on February 7. Want to stay up to date on IndieWire's film reviews and critical thoughts? to our newly launched newsletter, In Review by David Ehrlich, in which our Chief Film Critic and Head Reviews Editor rounds up the best new reviews and streaming picks along with some exclusive musings — all only available to subscribers. Best of IndieWire The 25 Best Alfred Hitchcock Movies, Ranked Every IndieWire TV Review from 2020, Ranked by Grade from Best to Worst
New York Times
06-02-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
‘Heart Eyes' Review: Love Is in the Air, Along With a Machete
Holiday rom-com lovers who are also slasher film completists: That's the coterie that might go for Josh Ruben's 'Heart Eyes,' a romantic comedy feebly masquerading as a horror movie. The hallmarks of a Hallmark Channel meet-cute are baked into the setup: Ally (Olivia Holt), a young marketer for a jewelry company, at first resists the charms of a handsome freelancer, Jay (Mason Gooding), when they're paired on a project. But as romance blossoms between the two, horror kicks in as they become the target of the Heart Eyes killer, a hulking maniac who travels the country slaughtering lovers, disguised behind a mask with heart-shaped eye holes that glow red. Ruben tries to keep the action moving. But he's hampered by a disheveled and directionless script — credited to Phillip Murphy, Christopher Landon and Michael Kennedy — that repeatedly strands its characters in idle dialogue scenes, including a tedious episode at the world's emptiest police station. Holt and Gooding have the chemistry of strangers whose speed date is speed tanking. It's hard to discern who the film is for when it feels as if it's been passed around genre writing classes in search of an identity. It's Valentine's Day-themed, but the rom-com crowd probably won't last long with a monster who gruesomely plunges machetes into bodies. Horror fans have seen the film's many slasher conventions employed before with far more novelty and purpose. The comedy is Nebraska: broad and flat. A horror rom-com can be delightful — 'Lisa Frankenstein' nailed it — but this film would put even Cupid in a bad mood. Heart EyesRated R for prodigious violence, gore and literal heartbreak. Running time: 1 hour 30 minutes. In theaters.
