Movie News
The Minions are going bananas for the holidays, with “Despicable Me 4” projecting a five-day opening of $120 million for the Fourth of July weekend. Playing in 4,428 locations, the sixth installment in Illumination and Universal’s animated series took in an additional $27 million on Friday.
It’s another triumph for the reliably commercial franchise, albeit notably pacing behind the previous entry “Minions: The Rise of Gru.” Bolstered by the viral trend “#Gentleminions,” involving young adults dressing in formal wear to attend screenings, “Rise of Gru” scored the biggest Independence Day weekend opening of all-time in 2022, with $123 million domestic over a four-day holiday window.
“Despicable Me 4” will still land one of the biggest Friday-to-Sunday grosses of the year, projecting $72.4 million over the three-day frame. That’d be the fourth-highest domestic opening of 2024, behind “Inside Out 2” ($154 million), “Dune: Part Two” ($82 million) and “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” ($80 million).
That’s...
It’s another triumph for the reliably commercial franchise, albeit notably pacing behind the previous entry “Minions: The Rise of Gru.” Bolstered by the viral trend “#Gentleminions,” involving young adults dressing in formal wear to attend screenings, “Rise of Gru” scored the biggest Independence Day weekend opening of all-time in 2022, with $123 million domestic over a four-day holiday window.
“Despicable Me 4” will still land one of the biggest Friday-to-Sunday grosses of the year, projecting $72.4 million over the three-day frame. That’d be the fourth-highest domestic opening of 2024, behind “Inside Out 2” ($154 million), “Dune: Part Two” ($82 million) and “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” ($80 million).
That’s...
- 7/6/2024
- by J. Kim Murphy
- Variety - Film News
It's been nearly 30 years since we last saw Axel Foley, the wisecracking Detroit cop played by Eddie Murphy, bring his street smarts to the posh streets of Beverly Hills. Now Netflix has revived the beloved franchise with the new film 'Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F,' reuniting Murphy with original cast members Judge Reinhold, John Ashton, Bronson Pinchot, and Paul Reiser.
This time around, Detective Foley heads back to Beverly Hills to save his estranged daughter and district attorney (played by Taylour Paige) from potential danger while investigating a murder. Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Paige’s cop ex-boyfriend, who joins in the mayhem as Foley and his pals uncover a conspiracy involving drug cartels.
How does the film stack up against the other movies in the Beverly Hills Cop franchise? Not bad, according to early IMDb user voting. Two days after premiering on Netflix, the fourth film has 15K votes with a respectable 6.7 average IMDb rating. That rating puts it above previous sequels ‘Beverly Hills Cop II’ (1987) at 6.5/10 stars and 134K votes, and 1994’s maligned ‘Beverly Hills Cop III,’ which sits at 5.5 with 90K votes. Unsurprisingly, the iconic original ‘Beverly Hills Cop’—directed by Martin Brest in 1984—has the highest score, with an impressive 7.4 rating with 209K votes.
If all this talk of Eddie Murphy and ‘80s buddy cop movies has you feeling nostalgic, IMDb spoke with the cast and crew of ’Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F’ to get their favorite films from the ‘80s and their must-see Murphy flicks. See what director Mark Molloy, producer Jerry Bruckheimer, and stars Kevin Bacon, John Ashton, and Judge Reinhold shared with us in the 'Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F' Cast and Creators Watchlist....
This time around, Detective Foley heads back to Beverly Hills to save his estranged daughter and district attorney (played by Taylour Paige) from potential danger while investigating a murder. Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Paige’s cop ex-boyfriend, who joins in the mayhem as Foley and his pals uncover a conspiracy involving drug cartels.
How does the film stack up against the other movies in the Beverly Hills Cop franchise? Not bad, according to early IMDb user voting. Two days after premiering on Netflix, the fourth film has 15K votes with a respectable 6.7 average IMDb rating. That rating puts it above previous sequels ‘Beverly Hills Cop II’ (1987) at 6.5/10 stars and 134K votes, and 1994’s maligned ‘Beverly Hills Cop III,’ which sits at 5.5 with 90K votes. Unsurprisingly, the iconic original ‘Beverly Hills Cop’—directed by Martin Brest in 1984—has the highest score, with an impressive 7.4 rating with 209K votes.
If all this talk of Eddie Murphy and ‘80s buddy cop movies has you feeling nostalgic, IMDb spoke with the cast and crew of ’Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F’ to get their favorite films from the ‘80s and their must-see Murphy flicks. See what director Mark Molloy, producer Jerry Bruckheimer, and stars Kevin Bacon, John Ashton, and Judge Reinhold shared with us in the 'Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F' Cast and Creators Watchlist....
- 7/5/2024
- by IMDb Editors
- IMDb News
Gru and his gang of minions are setting off box office fireworks this Independence Day.
“Despicable Me 4,” the latest entry in Universal and Illumination’s wildly successful animated franchise, opened to $27 million on Wednesday. The sequel brings back Steve Carell as Gru, a recovering supervillain turned secret agent, and pits him against Will Ferrell as a French baddie named Maxime Le Mal. Yet it’s the minions, those anarchic, highlighter-yellow critters, who are the biggest attractions, having starred in not just the “Despicable Me” films, but also a series of spinoffs. Look for “Despicable Me 4” to earn roughly $120 million over the five-day holiday weekend.
That strong showing is welcome news for movie theaters, which have endured a bruising start to the summer after promising films like “The Fall Guy” and “Furiosa” bombed. Things have been turning around, however, with Disney and Pixar’s “Inside Out 2,” Sony’s...
“Despicable Me 4,” the latest entry in Universal and Illumination’s wildly successful animated franchise, opened to $27 million on Wednesday. The sequel brings back Steve Carell as Gru, a recovering supervillain turned secret agent, and pits him against Will Ferrell as a French baddie named Maxime Le Mal. Yet it’s the minions, those anarchic, highlighter-yellow critters, who are the biggest attractions, having starred in not just the “Despicable Me” films, but also a series of spinoffs. Look for “Despicable Me 4” to earn roughly $120 million over the five-day holiday weekend.
That strong showing is welcome news for movie theaters, which have endured a bruising start to the summer after promising films like “The Fall Guy” and “Furiosa” bombed. Things have been turning around, however, with Disney and Pixar’s “Inside Out 2,” Sony’s...
- 7/4/2024
- by Brent Lang
- Variety - Film News
The character of Ryn (Noah Averbach-Katz) was a tragic figure in "Star Trek: Discovery." Ryn was an Andorian who had signed a lifetime contract with a dangerous capitalist syndicate called the Emerald Chain, effectively meaning he was enslaved for life. He was kept in line by his vicious boss, the Orion Osyraa (Janet Kidder), by a bomb that she implanted in his neck. There was a time when Ryn dreamed of escaping and even staged an uprising against Osyraa. His rebellion, however, eventually ceased and he was forced back into servitude. His antennae were chopped off as punishment and he was thereafter tasked with implanting bombs in the necks of other enslaved individuals.
Osyraa and the other enslaved beings all hated him. Ryn didn't feel too positively about himself, either.
Ryn didn't achieve any hope until a visit from the U.S.S. Discovery, a ship that had just traveled...
Osyraa and the other enslaved beings all hated him. Ryn didn't feel too positively about himself, either.
Ryn didn't achieve any hope until a visit from the U.S.S. Discovery, a ship that had just traveled...
- 7/7/2024
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
George Lucas has an obsession with world-building and backstories. Because he spent so long toying with the concept and setting of "Star Wars," long before he actually wrote what would become the first movie in the saga, a lot of concepts for what would come later (even as recent as "The Force Awakens") can be found in his earliest notes. Indeed, the whole story of the prequels originated from Lucas' own backstory and world-building for the Jedi and the Sith that he created before writing the original "Star Wars."
But just because the maker had these ideas in his head doesn't mean his actors had to study a fake history book for their roles. As Ian McDiarmid himself told Star Wars Insider before the release of "The Phantom Menace" in 1999, he didn't really dive into the backstory of Sheev Palpatine.
"Like everybody else, I've read the books and worked things out,...
But just because the maker had these ideas in his head doesn't mean his actors had to study a fake history book for their roles. As Ian McDiarmid himself told Star Wars Insider before the release of "The Phantom Menace" in 1999, he didn't really dive into the backstory of Sheev Palpatine.
"Like everybody else, I've read the books and worked things out,...
- 7/7/2024
- by Rafael Motamayor
- Slash Film
Some nude scenes are meant to be sexy. Others are meant to be funny.
David Duchovny took the latter approach in his latest movie, “Reverse the Curse,” which he wrote and directed. The 63-year-old actor stars in the film as an ailing Red Sox fan whose condition worsens every time his beloved baseball team loses. When his adult son moves back home to take care of him, he manufactures a fake winning streak to keep his dad’s spirits high.
In one scene in the film, Duchovny and his co-star Logan Marshall-Green are changing in a men’s locker room. Naked, Duchovny’s character asks his son, “Are you uptight naked in front of your father?” After seeing his bare bottom half, Duchovny hugs him and says, “That’s a perfectly respectable prick you’ve got there, son.”
In an interview with Salon, Duchovny explained that it was important for...
David Duchovny took the latter approach in his latest movie, “Reverse the Curse,” which he wrote and directed. The 63-year-old actor stars in the film as an ailing Red Sox fan whose condition worsens every time his beloved baseball team loses. When his adult son moves back home to take care of him, he manufactures a fake winning streak to keep his dad’s spirits high.
In one scene in the film, Duchovny and his co-star Logan Marshall-Green are changing in a men’s locker room. Naked, Duchovny’s character asks his son, “Are you uptight naked in front of your father?” After seeing his bare bottom half, Duchovny hugs him and says, “That’s a perfectly respectable prick you’ve got there, son.”
In an interview with Salon, Duchovny explained that it was important for...
- 7/7/2024
- by Ethan Shanfeld
- Variety - Film News
Forensic anthropology is not for the impatient. It requires long, tedious hours of poring over and trying to make sense of bone fragments, so you'd better be a real nerd when it comes to loving the minutiae of the human skeleton. It's also not a field for the squeamish. As you might imagine, the human remains you have to recover and analyze at crime scenes can be deeply upsetting.
"Bones" fans would know all about that. The longtime Fox mainstay was full of utterly gross and gnarly scenes, like the time its heroes, Special Agent Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz) and Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan (Emily Deschanel), found themselves staring down the barrel of a bathtub full of liquified body parts in the season 2 episode "The Truth in the Lye". Bones, never one to be easily phased by a nauseating sight in her workplace, quickly sets to work examining the melted...
"Bones" fans would know all about that. The longtime Fox mainstay was full of utterly gross and gnarly scenes, like the time its heroes, Special Agent Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz) and Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan (Emily Deschanel), found themselves staring down the barrel of a bathtub full of liquified body parts in the season 2 episode "The Truth in the Lye". Bones, never one to be easily phased by a nauseating sight in her workplace, quickly sets to work examining the melted...
- 7/7/2024
- by Sandy Schaefer
- Slash Film
Now here’s a first: Apart from the pale-faced freak show of the film’s title, the experience of watching “Longlegs” didn’t strike me as all that frightening. At first. In the moment, it’s considerably less scary than the ecstatic early buzz — ginned up by Neon via whisper campaigns and strategic advance screenings — would have you believe. Less than 12 hours after seeing it, however, the demented Nicolas Cage character resurfaced in my nightmares, popping up out of nowhere to screech, “Hail Satan!” in that unnerving, high-pitched voice of his.
How many horror movies can claim to hijack your subconscious? With “Longlegs,” writer-director Osgood Perkins (“The Blackcoat’s Daughter”) delivers the kind of payoff we sought out as kids, daring ourselves to watch films about boogeymen that made us want to sleep with the lights on. Here, Cage plays a clearly unwell rural dollmaker who crafts life-size effigies of his...
How many horror movies can claim to hijack your subconscious? With “Longlegs,” writer-director Osgood Perkins (“The Blackcoat’s Daughter”) delivers the kind of payoff we sought out as kids, daring ourselves to watch films about boogeymen that made us want to sleep with the lights on. Here, Cage plays a clearly unwell rural dollmaker who crafts life-size effigies of his...
- 7/6/2024
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety - Film News
Is there an issue more contentious in Hollywood than facial hair? Frankly, yes. But it's still fun to talk about. Throughout the history of the industry, stars' choice of facial adornment have caused no end of issues for studio executives. Such was the case with Gregory Peck and 1950's "The Gunfighter," in which he donned a majestic mustache that then-20th Century Fox head Darryl F. Zanuck claimed he would have paid $25K to shave. Sadly, however, Zanuck was out of the country when the film shot, and only discovered the offending stache upon his return. According to the exec, it was this precise element that was to blame for the film failing to meet box office expectations.
This is but one facial hair-related debacle in the annals of Hollywood lore. What about when some sort of facial fuzz is actually required for a role? Well, in the '90s,...
This is but one facial hair-related debacle in the annals of Hollywood lore. What about when some sort of facial fuzz is actually required for a role? Well, in the '90s,...
- 7/6/2024
- by Joe Roberts
- Slash Film
Clive Owen has worked with many of the great filmmakers, from Robert Altman to Spike Lee and most notably Alfonso Cuarón in “Children of Men.” But Owen called his collaboration on “Closer” with filmmaker Mike Nichols “one of the highlights of his career.”
The 2004 romantic drama co-starred Julia Roberts, Jude Law, and Natalie Portman and screened recently at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in Berlin for its 20th anniversary. Introducing the film for a packed crowd, Owen joined the rest of the cast ahead of the screening for their first reunion in 20 years. In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Owen reflected on the process of making the film, as well as taking part in the original London production of the play.
“There are a handful of scripts that we read where it’s really, really strong the way it impacts you and resonates with you. When I...
The 2004 romantic drama co-starred Julia Roberts, Jude Law, and Natalie Portman and screened recently at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in Berlin for its 20th anniversary. Introducing the film for a packed crowd, Owen joined the rest of the cast ahead of the screening for their first reunion in 20 years. In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Owen reflected on the process of making the film, as well as taking part in the original London production of the play.
“There are a handful of scripts that we read where it’s really, really strong the way it impacts you and resonates with you. When I...
- 7/6/2024
- by Harrison Richlin
- Indiewire
For most fans of "The Boys," the moment that got them on board was that early scene in the pilot, the one where Hughie's lovely girlfriend Robin (Jess Salgueiro) suddenly explodes when A-Train accidentally runs into ... err ... through her. It's a moment that made clear that this is a show with few limits, where seemingly anyone can die at any moment, often in the goriest way possible.
For showrunner Eric Kripke, however, the moment that solidified the series for him came in the fourth episode, "The Female of the Species." That's the episode where Homelander and Maeve rescue a passenger plane that's been hijacked by terrorists, only for Homelander's eye lasers to accidentally destroy the cockpit and guarantee the plane will crash. If Superman was here, he would've found some way to stop the plane; Homelander doesn't even try.
"The [episode] that was the first one that I was like, 'Oh,...
For showrunner Eric Kripke, however, the moment that solidified the series for him came in the fourth episode, "The Female of the Species." That's the episode where Homelander and Maeve rescue a passenger plane that's been hijacked by terrorists, only for Homelander's eye lasers to accidentally destroy the cockpit and guarantee the plane will crash. If Superman was here, he would've found some way to stop the plane; Homelander doesn't even try.
"The [episode] that was the first one that I was like, 'Oh,...
- 7/6/2024
- by Michael Boyle
- Slash Film
After living in Los Angeles for 27 years, Minnie Driver is now back living in London. But asked if she could ever live in the U.S. again if Donald Trump is re-elected president, the “Good Will Hunting” star said, “If I lived in a red state, no, I couldn’t.”
“But living in California, you are somewhat insulated,” the actor continued, in an interview with British publication The Times. “But do you want to go and live in a bubble? Do you run away from the fire or do you go back and help?”
Driver, speaking just days after Trump was found guilty of 34 felony counts in his New York hush money trial, said, “Of course he deserves to be in prison — of course he does. But just looking at how much money he raised in that two days, $53 million in a 48-hour period, and the idea that because the...
“But living in California, you are somewhat insulated,” the actor continued, in an interview with British publication The Times. “But do you want to go and live in a bubble? Do you run away from the fire or do you go back and help?”
Driver, speaking just days after Trump was found guilty of 34 felony counts in his New York hush money trial, said, “Of course he deserves to be in prison — of course he does. But just looking at how much money he raised in that two days, $53 million in a 48-hour period, and the idea that because the...
- 7/6/2024
- by Ethan Shanfeld
- Variety - Film News
Once a quintessential comfort watch, "Parks and Recreation" now stands apart as a monument to a more optimistic political landscape. The series is an Obama-era comedy through and through: bipartisanship is possible and necessary, hope matters above all else, and the most malicious and clueless among us are typically confined to town hall meetings and election losers' montages. It can be tough to rewatch Greg Daniels and Michael Schur's documentary-style comedy in a post-Trump era, but it can also be rewarding: the jokes are sharp, the relationships surprisingly true-to-life, and the ensemble is even better than you might remember.
Still, even nine years after the show came to an end, certain universal truths about the "Parks and Rec" viewing experience hold true. Season 1 is bad to the point that it's often considered skippable, while season 2 picks up its slack immediately. The show is at its best when people...
Still, even nine years after the show came to an end, certain universal truths about the "Parks and Rec" viewing experience hold true. Season 1 is bad to the point that it's often considered skippable, while season 2 picks up its slack immediately. The show is at its best when people...
- 7/6/2024
- by Valerie Ettenhofer
- Slash Film
George Miller’s high-octane prequel film “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” doesn’t have a ton in common with “Janet Planet,” the quiet, small-scale indie darling from playwright-turned-filmmaker Annie Baker. The films were only released a month apart, so any real influence is pretty unlikely. But according to Baker, she can still see a connection.
Speaking in a recent interview with Letterboxd, Baker was asked what fascinates her about mother/daughter stories. She denied that “Janet Planet” was influenced by any one story in particular. But she did just see “Furiosa,” which centers on a daughter losing her mother and trying to find her way back home, and Baker felt it definitely made an impression.
“I really liked ‘Furiosa,’” she said. “I can’t say it was an influence on ‘Janet Planet’ since I saw it last weekend, but I’m a big fan. I’m a big fan. ‘Furiosa,...
Speaking in a recent interview with Letterboxd, Baker was asked what fascinates her about mother/daughter stories. She denied that “Janet Planet” was influenced by any one story in particular. But she did just see “Furiosa,” which centers on a daughter losing her mother and trying to find her way back home, and Baker felt it definitely made an impression.
“I really liked ‘Furiosa,’” she said. “I can’t say it was an influence on ‘Janet Planet’ since I saw it last weekend, but I’m a big fan. I’m a big fan. ‘Furiosa,...
- 7/6/2024
- by Harrison Richlin
- Indiewire
Jon Landau, the Oscar-winning producer behind “Titanic” and “Avatar” and a longtime collaborator of director James Cameron, is dead at 63.
Landau’s sister, Tina, confirmed his death. Posting on X, formerly known as Twitter, she said, “The best brother a girl could ever dream of — my brother Jon — has passed away. My heart is broken but also bursting with pride & gratitude for his most extraordinary life, and the love and gifts he gave me — and all who knew him or his films.”
Some of Landau’s other credits include Steven Soderbergh’s 2002 remake of “Solaris” and Robert Rodriguez’s “Alita: Battle Angel” from 2019. Landau, who was COO of Cameron’s Lightstorm Entertainment production banner, was also at work on producing the upcoming three “Avatar” sequels, the next of which is scheduled to arrive in 2025.
Landau was born in New York City in 1960 to Edythe and Ely Landau, film and TV...
Landau’s sister, Tina, confirmed his death. Posting on X, formerly known as Twitter, she said, “The best brother a girl could ever dream of — my brother Jon — has passed away. My heart is broken but also bursting with pride & gratitude for his most extraordinary life, and the love and gifts he gave me — and all who knew him or his films.”
Some of Landau’s other credits include Steven Soderbergh’s 2002 remake of “Solaris” and Robert Rodriguez’s “Alita: Battle Angel” from 2019. Landau, who was COO of Cameron’s Lightstorm Entertainment production banner, was also at work on producing the upcoming three “Avatar” sequels, the next of which is scheduled to arrive in 2025.
Landau was born in New York City in 1960 to Edythe and Ely Landau, film and TV...
- 7/6/2024
- by Harrison Richlin
- Indiewire
Jon Landau, the Oscar-winning producer of “Titanic” and both “Avatar” movies, died of cancer on Friday, July 5. He was 63.
Landau, a longtime producing partner to James Cameron, was behind three of the top four highest-grossing movies of all time. Landau helped make history with “Titanic,” the first film to cross $1 billion at the global box office. He topped that movie’s record-breaking grosses twice, with 2009’s “Avatar” and its sequel, 2022’s “Avatar: The Way of Water.”
Before his death, Landau was deeply involved in the production of the “Avatar” sequels. Cameron is planning to fill his blockbuster sci-fi franchise with five movies in total, with the fifth tentatively coming out in 2031.
Speaking to Variety at the “Way of Water” premiere, Landau recalled screening the movie for the principal cast. “When I saw them tearing up, I had to tear up,” he said.
#AvatarTheWayOfWater producer Jon Landau talks about the long...
Landau, a longtime producing partner to James Cameron, was behind three of the top four highest-grossing movies of all time. Landau helped make history with “Titanic,” the first film to cross $1 billion at the global box office. He topped that movie’s record-breaking grosses twice, with 2009’s “Avatar” and its sequel, 2022’s “Avatar: The Way of Water.”
Before his death, Landau was deeply involved in the production of the “Avatar” sequels. Cameron is planning to fill his blockbuster sci-fi franchise with five movies in total, with the fifth tentatively coming out in 2031.
Speaking to Variety at the “Way of Water” premiere, Landau recalled screening the movie for the principal cast. “When I saw them tearing up, I had to tear up,” he said.
#AvatarTheWayOfWater producer Jon Landau talks about the long...
- 7/6/2024
- by Ethan Shanfeld
- Variety - Film News
23 years into his film career, Tom Hardy is still impossible to pin down. Is he a leading man? A full-on movie star? A character actor? Would he be perfectly happy to just make Venom movies until he retires?
Here's what we do know about Hardy: he's handsome, he loves trying on weird accents (which we ranked here at /Film), and he commits fully to every role whether it's a prestige picture or a superhero flick. Critics dig him (even if they do not dig the "Venom" movies at all), and he's tremendously respected by his fellow actors. He's one of the best we've got. But it's been 16 years since his breakthrough bravura performance in Nicolas Winding Refn's "Bronson," and, for whatever reason, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' membership has only managed to nominate him for one measly Oscar.
What gives?
While he's been magnificent in very...
Here's what we do know about Hardy: he's handsome, he loves trying on weird accents (which we ranked here at /Film), and he commits fully to every role whether it's a prestige picture or a superhero flick. Critics dig him (even if they do not dig the "Venom" movies at all), and he's tremendously respected by his fellow actors. He's one of the best we've got. But it's been 16 years since his breakthrough bravura performance in Nicolas Winding Refn's "Bronson," and, for whatever reason, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' membership has only managed to nominate him for one measly Oscar.
What gives?
While he's been magnificent in very...
- 7/6/2024
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
Filmmaker and master of suspense M. Night Shyamalan is returning to the big screen next month with his concert-set thriller, “Trap,” but the big twist is “Trap” is about more than just whatever twist Shyamalan has cooked up.
The film has been largely hyped for the return of Josh Hartnett as a leading man, especially in a dark role that sees him as a serial killer trying to evade a trap laid out for him at a pop concert. But in a recent interview with Empire, Shyamalan boasts another huge reason to see “Trap” in theaters is that viewers will be getting an actual concert film in addition to his standard mystery fare. In fact, when asked how he pitched the film, Shyamalan said, “What if ‘The Silence Of The Lambs’ happened at a Taylor Swift concert?”
While Shyamalan was partially inspired by a real-life sting operation from 1985 conducted by U.
The film has been largely hyped for the return of Josh Hartnett as a leading man, especially in a dark role that sees him as a serial killer trying to evade a trap laid out for him at a pop concert. But in a recent interview with Empire, Shyamalan boasts another huge reason to see “Trap” in theaters is that viewers will be getting an actual concert film in addition to his standard mystery fare. In fact, when asked how he pitched the film, Shyamalan said, “What if ‘The Silence Of The Lambs’ happened at a Taylor Swift concert?”
While Shyamalan was partially inspired by a real-life sting operation from 1985 conducted by U.
- 7/6/2024
- by Harrison Richlin
- Indiewire
Judy Belushi Pisano, the widow of legendary comedian John Belushi who spent decades preserving and protecting his legacy, died Friday after a long battle with cancer. She was 73.
News of Pisano’s passing was reported Saturday by the Mv Times news outlet covering Martha’s Vineyard, where Pisano spent most of her later years. Her death was also confirmed on the official John Belushi Instagram account.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by John Adam Belushi (@itsjohnbelushi)
Pisano was married to Belushi, the larger-than-life star of “Saturday Night Live,” “Animal House” and “The Blues Brothers,” from 1973 until his death from an overdose in 1982. The two met while in high school in Wheaton, Illinois. Pisano was there for his meteoric rise, and she endured the worst of Belushi’s infidelity and addiction struggles, yet she devoted much of her life to honoring his memory. She was a producer on...
News of Pisano’s passing was reported Saturday by the Mv Times news outlet covering Martha’s Vineyard, where Pisano spent most of her later years. Her death was also confirmed on the official John Belushi Instagram account.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by John Adam Belushi (@itsjohnbelushi)
Pisano was married to Belushi, the larger-than-life star of “Saturday Night Live,” “Animal House” and “The Blues Brothers,” from 1973 until his death from an overdose in 1982. The two met while in high school in Wheaton, Illinois. Pisano was there for his meteoric rise, and she endured the worst of Belushi’s infidelity and addiction struggles, yet she devoted much of her life to honoring his memory. She was a producer on...
- 7/6/2024
- by Cynthia Littleton
- Variety - Film News
Like the prophetic Bene Gesserit, director Denis Villeneuve always seems to have his mind partly in the future. When it comes to casting his "Dune" films, based on the novels by Frank Herbert, he's managed to hire some of the biggest stars in the world to play bit parts all by pointing to what comes next. While many actors would jump at the chance to work with Villeneuve or be in that kind of star-studded production, there's also a lot involved and smaller roles might not feel as rewarding for huge, busy stars. So how did he manage to get Florence Pugh to play Princess Irulan in "Dune: Part Two"? By promising her some great things for her future playing the character, all pointing to a third film based on "Dune Messiah."
Of course, this should sound pretty familiar to fans of the first two films who followed production, as...
Of course, this should sound pretty familiar to fans of the first two films who followed production, as...
- 7/6/2024
- by Danielle Ryan
- Slash Film
Mark Cousins’ portrait of a British modernist painter, “A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things,” took the Karlovy Vary Film Festival top prize Saturday, winning over a jury that included Christine Vachon and Geoffrey Rush with its perceptive take on art and seeing.
Cousins said the film’s subject, painter Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, “lived completely, truly and utterly – let’s try to do that.”
Norwegian divorce story “Loveable” won the Crystal Globe jury prize, as well as three other awards categories, taking home the Fipresci, ecumenical and Europa Cinemas Label prizes with its nuanced look at a woman morphing into a new life.
Director Lilja Ingolfsdottir scored big with her first feature-length drama with “Loveable,” telling the audience at the Hotel Thermal Grand Hall the story helped her “find barriers we have built against connections.”
The directing prize went to Nelicia Low for the Singapore/Taiwan/Poland production “Pierce,” an intricate account...
Cousins said the film’s subject, painter Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, “lived completely, truly and utterly – let’s try to do that.”
Norwegian divorce story “Loveable” won the Crystal Globe jury prize, as well as three other awards categories, taking home the Fipresci, ecumenical and Europa Cinemas Label prizes with its nuanced look at a woman morphing into a new life.
Director Lilja Ingolfsdottir scored big with her first feature-length drama with “Loveable,” telling the audience at the Hotel Thermal Grand Hall the story helped her “find barriers we have built against connections.”
The directing prize went to Nelicia Low for the Singapore/Taiwan/Poland production “Pierce,” an intricate account...
- 7/6/2024
- by Will Tizard
- Variety - Film News
The era of Peak TV streaming has radically changed in the last few years. As we know, the pandemic compelled companies like Lucasfilm and Marvel to announce a rash of new series so Wall Street wouldn’t lose confidence in them. All other companies and streamers followed suit—the thinking being that with fewer theatrical movies available to consumers and Wall Street eyeing everything closely, a pivot to streaming content would say the day—including HBO and Max.
Continue reading Matt Reeves’ ‘Arkham Asylum’ ‘Batman’ Spin-Off Series Gets Scrapped At Max at The Playlist.
Continue reading Matt Reeves’ ‘Arkham Asylum’ ‘Batman’ Spin-Off Series Gets Scrapped At Max at The Playlist.
- 7/6/2024
- by Edward Davis
- The Playlist
Not for the first time in his filmmaking career, Northern Irish documentarian Mark Cousins begins his latest work by presenting the audience with a banal image, and persuasively talking us into a reconsideration. The picture is an unremarkable vacation snapshot of British artist Wilhelmina Barns-Graham in her seventies or eighties, dressed for a day’s sightseeing in a sensible raincoat, not projecting any particular halo of artistic genius. Cousins’ quizzical narration ponders her pose, her clothes, her comfortably ordinary aura, and wonders how easy these details make her — in a realm geared against even palpably extraordinary women — to overlook. A winningly discursive, often lyrical valentine to Barns-Graham and her oeuvre, “A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things” aims to draw eyes toward her angular modernist interpretations of nature at its most serene and severe, and train them to see the subversive soul expressed therein.
Premiering in the main competition at the Karlovy Vary festival,...
Premiering in the main competition at the Karlovy Vary festival,...
- 7/6/2024
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety - Film News
The 58th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (June 28 to July 6) boasted not one but two competitions, the Crystal Globe and Proxima, presided over by the festival president Jiří Bartoška, artistic director Karel Och, and executive director Kryštof Mucha. The festival is the main summer event in the country, which attracts many sponsors and patrons who want to attend, and faces none of the financial hardships of such festivals as Berlin, Toronto, and Sundance. 130 films are shown, with 140,000 tickets sold. There is no room for growth, given the limited venues, from the many screening rooms at the festival hub, the Hotel Thermal, where juror Christine Vachon mixed Negronis for her fellow jurors between screenings, to the colorful arthouse Kino Drahomira, named after a revered Czech woman director.
The Eastern European festival falls between Cannes and Venice, and programs many films in its Crystal Globe Competition that did not make the cut at Cannes,...
The Eastern European festival falls between Cannes and Venice, and programs many films in its Crystal Globe Competition that did not make the cut at Cannes,...
- 7/6/2024
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
UK director Mark Cousins’s A Sudden Glimpse To Deeper Things has won the top prize, the Crystal Globe, at this year’s Karlovy Vary Film Festival, while Loveable by Norwegian director Lilja Ingolfsdottir won five awards in total including the special jury prize and best actress award for Helga Guren.
Cousins‘ A Sudden Glimpse To Deeper Things is a documentary portrait of British painter Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, a leading figure in the modernist St Ives group of artists. Screen’s review said that Cousins brought “his distinctively poetic and enquiring approach to this elegiac cine-essay“ to the film. Conic acquired...
Cousins‘ A Sudden Glimpse To Deeper Things is a documentary portrait of British painter Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, a leading figure in the modernist St Ives group of artists. Screen’s review said that Cousins brought “his distinctively poetic and enquiring approach to this elegiac cine-essay“ to the film. Conic acquired...
- 7/6/2024
- ScreenDaily
The transformation of a mom-and-pop beef sandwich shop into a ritzy fine-dining restaurant by way of Carmy Berzatto, a young and talented but emotionally unstable chef, makes for one of the best new television shows — and possibly one of the best ever. The aggregated Rotten Tomatoes score of all three seasons of "The Bear" sits at 97%, with its consensus describing the series as a "perfect mélange of ingredients." (You gotta have food puns in your review!) This score is quite high, even higher than the masterpieces "Breaking Bad," which has a collective Rotten Tomatoes score of 96%, and "Mad Men" at 94%.
"The Bear" doesn't look like any other show on television right now. Creator and co-showrunner Christopher Storer often takes formal risks, like designing season 1, episode 7, "Review," to look like a single shot. The camera bobs on the shoulders of the frazzled chefs as they yell and drop dishes while struggling...
"The Bear" doesn't look like any other show on television right now. Creator and co-showrunner Christopher Storer often takes formal risks, like designing season 1, episode 7, "Review," to look like a single shot. The camera bobs on the shoulders of the frazzled chefs as they yell and drop dishes while struggling...
- 7/6/2024
- by Caroline Madden
- Slash Film
Studio Ghibli is often considered synonymous with filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, director of the studio's best movies. Many would argue Miyazaki's works are some of the best animated movies ever, so it's natural that he casts a shadow over the studio he helped build.
However, the studio actually has multiple founders: the late director Isao Takahata, producer (and current studio chairman) Toshio Suzuki, and Yasuyoshi Tokuma. The latter's company Tokuma Shoten offered the foundation for Ghibli and was the studio's parent company from 1985 to 2005.
Miyazaki was already a prolific animator pre-Ghibli and acquainted with Suzuki and Takahata. The three first made a movie together in 1984: "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind." Miyazaki directed, Takahata produced, and Suzuki was the one who first connected Miyazaki with Tokuma Shoten. As a bonus, composer Joe Hisaishi (who went on to be Ghibli's in-house composer) also scored "Nausicaä."
1000 years in the future, the...
However, the studio actually has multiple founders: the late director Isao Takahata, producer (and current studio chairman) Toshio Suzuki, and Yasuyoshi Tokuma. The latter's company Tokuma Shoten offered the foundation for Ghibli and was the studio's parent company from 1985 to 2005.
Miyazaki was already a prolific animator pre-Ghibli and acquainted with Suzuki and Takahata. The three first made a movie together in 1984: "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind." Miyazaki directed, Takahata produced, and Suzuki was the one who first connected Miyazaki with Tokuma Shoten. As a bonus, composer Joe Hisaishi (who went on to be Ghibli's in-house composer) also scored "Nausicaä."
1000 years in the future, the...
- 7/6/2024
- by Devin Meenan
- Slash Film
Before Ayo Edebiri broke out in “The Bear” and “Bottoms” or even as a voice on “Big Mouth,” she was a huge Letterboxd influencer, offering a mix of hilarious and thoughtful commentary on a wide range of cinema. She has largely tempered her posting, still contributing a brief review from time to time, but is now returning to the film criticism forum with some recent Criterion Closet picks.
“I be on these sales. I’m on these sales. I’m getting 50 percent off these DVDs just like you are, so I’m very excited to be here,” Edebiri said as she scoured shelf upon shelf of classic cinema.
Edebiri’s first pick was Akira Kurasawa’s pulpy crime drama and the inspiration for Spike Lee and Denzel Washington’s latest collaboration, “High & Low.” Discussing the film, Edebiri said, “I’ve been seeing this popping off Letterboxd, which I think...
“I be on these sales. I’m on these sales. I’m getting 50 percent off these DVDs just like you are, so I’m very excited to be here,” Edebiri said as she scoured shelf upon shelf of classic cinema.
Edebiri’s first pick was Akira Kurasawa’s pulpy crime drama and the inspiration for Spike Lee and Denzel Washington’s latest collaboration, “High & Low.” Discussing the film, Edebiri said, “I’ve been seeing this popping off Letterboxd, which I think...
- 7/6/2024
- by Harrison Richlin
- Indiewire
"Dinner Party" is often considered the best episode of "The Office," and part of that comes down to how it's structured less like a standard sitcom episode and more like a horror story. This is a haunted house episode, except the monsters in the house are Michael and Jan, and their ghastly nature is uncovered piece by piece until it crescendos into a terrifying mess of built-up rage and grievances. The horror movie tropes are all over the place, including that necessary "point of no return" plot point where the heroes' attempt to leave backfires. The moment Michael tells Jim to ignore his fake apartment flooding, Jim and Pam know they're trapped in this nightmare for the rest of the evening. If they're gonna get out of this alive, they'll have to face it head on.
Jim and Pam are always the show's audience surrogates to some extent, but "Dinner...
Jim and Pam are always the show's audience surrogates to some extent, but "Dinner...
- 7/6/2024
- by Michael Boyle
- Slash Film
Trailers make “Fly Me to the Moon” look cute at best, when in fact it’s quite clever: a smarter-than-it-sounds, space-age sparring match of the Rock Hudson/Doris Day variety, in which the honest-to-a-fault NASA launch director responsible for sending Apollo 11 into orbit (a straight-faced Channing Tatum) goes head-to-head with a mendacious Madison Avenue spin doctor. Set during the first half of 1969, director Greg Berlanti’s high-concept screwball comedy values chemistry over history, bending the facts to suggest a fresh set of stakes for the operation, where romance fuels a rocket to the moon.
For decades, questions have dogged the Apollo 11 project. Who really won the space race? Did NASA fake the moon landing? Story credit goes to Keenan Flynn and Bill Kirstein, as screenwriter Rose Gilroy takes these doubts and extrapolates them into what the film itself might call an “alternative version” of events — one that puts authenticity itself on the line.
For decades, questions have dogged the Apollo 11 project. Who really won the space race? Did NASA fake the moon landing? Story credit goes to Keenan Flynn and Bill Kirstein, as screenwriter Rose Gilroy takes these doubts and extrapolates them into what the film itself might call an “alternative version” of events — one that puts authenticity itself on the line.
- 7/6/2024
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety - Film News
It’s hard to get a cellphone signal, up in the high mountains of Himachal Pradesh in Northern India. Especially in the dead of winter when deep snowdrifts absorb all sound and jagged encircling ridges form an impenetrably icy barrier. But without WiFi coverage, Subhadra Mahajan’s spectacular and serene “Second Chance” suggests, a different, deeper kind of connection is possible — to these stark, unearthly landscapes, to the people who’ve made their lives among them, and perhaps even to the self you might have lost touch with through trauma or tiredness, down in the busy, noisy world below.
25-year-old Nia (Dheera Johnson) is certainly feeling estranged from herself when she takes refuge here. In a startling juxtaposition, we cut from a black screen over which audio of an anguished voicemail plays, to Nia gazing out over a stunning black-and-white vista of mountain crags rearing up monumentally from a frozen valley basin.
25-year-old Nia (Dheera Johnson) is certainly feeling estranged from herself when she takes refuge here. In a startling juxtaposition, we cut from a black screen over which audio of an anguished voicemail plays, to Nia gazing out over a stunning black-and-white vista of mountain crags rearing up monumentally from a frozen valley basin.
- 7/6/2024
- by Jessica Kiang
- Variety - Film News
Gena Rowlands has spent her career avoiding formality, delivering performances ranging from the unbound to the ritualistically controlled — and to watch her onscreen is to face the unknown. Each role brings viewers to the edge of their seat, uncertain which direction they’ll be spun toward by her frenzied commitment to every role, from a mentally ill housewife in “A Woman Under the Influence” to a theater actress staring down the barrel of a fading career in “Opening Night,” or a divorcee pacing with a martini in “Love Streams.” And despite the often hectic material she covered with her husband John Cassavetes, who directed all those films, her performances are always grounded in reality.
With Rowlands, acting becomes a gateway into understanding all the foibles and eccentricities of humanity at its best and worst. Recently, Rowlands’ son, actor/writer/director Nick Cassavetes, announced that his mother has been struggling with...
With Rowlands, acting becomes a gateway into understanding all the foibles and eccentricities of humanity at its best and worst. Recently, Rowlands’ son, actor/writer/director Nick Cassavetes, announced that his mother has been struggling with...
- 7/6/2024
- by Harrison Richlin and Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
To say that Stephen King has had an impressive career would be an insulting understatement. One of the most prolific authors ever, he has published nearly 70 novels and dozens upon dozens of short stories, many of which have been adapted for the screen over the years. But it turns out that even in the golden age of King adaptations spurred by the insane success of "It" in 2017, the author's favorite book hasn't yet been turned into a movie.
In a 2014 interview with Rolling Stone, King name-checked "Lisey's Story" as the best book of his storied career. That's no small thing. As for why? Here's what he had to say about it at the time:
"Lisey's Story. That one felt like an important book to me because it was about marriage, and I'd never written about that. I wanted to talk about two things: One is the secret world that people build inside a marriage,...
In a 2014 interview with Rolling Stone, King name-checked "Lisey's Story" as the best book of his storied career. That's no small thing. As for why? Here's what he had to say about it at the time:
"Lisey's Story. That one felt like an important book to me because it was about marriage, and I'd never written about that. I wanted to talk about two things: One is the secret world that people build inside a marriage,...
- 7/6/2024
- by Ryan Scott
- Slash Film
Horror director Eli Roth might be known as a purveyor of torture porn movies like "Hostel" and "Cabin Fever," but he has a soft side when it comes to animals. Speaking to Total Film about his holiday slasher "Thanksgiving," he confessed to having a problem with movies where a murder victim has a pet. "I can't enjoy the movie until I know someone's gonna feed that pet. Even though I know it's a story, I know it's not real. I'm like, but what about the cat?"
Roth has a pet of his own -- a French bulldog -- who gave him the inspiration he needed when pitching a "Borderlands" movie to Lionsgate. "Whenever I take her for a walk and she has to go to the bathroom, she won't let me look at her," Roth explains in the latest issue of SFX magazine. "I have to look away because she gets really shy.
Roth has a pet of his own -- a French bulldog -- who gave him the inspiration he needed when pitching a "Borderlands" movie to Lionsgate. "Whenever I take her for a walk and she has to go to the bathroom, she won't let me look at her," Roth explains in the latest issue of SFX magazine. "I have to look away because she gets really shy.
- 7/6/2024
- by Hannah Shaw-Williams
- Slash Film
One of the all-time great episodes of "The Simpsons," at least as far as Lisa fans are concerned, is "Lisa's Substitute" from season 2. It's an episode that finally gives Lisa a teacher that she connects to on a real personal level, and then cruelly rips him away from her. Mr. Bergstrom is an amazing one-off character, a mature and thoughtful teacher that we could totally believe would make Lisa cry when she learns he's leaving. But despite how beloved Bergstrom is by the fans, the episode's closing credits don't properly credit the actor who played him. Instead of listing Dustin Hoffman, the credits read Sam Etic.
The reason for this? It was Hoffman's joke about Bergstrom's Jewish features. "The Simpsons" writer Mike Reiss explained in his tell-all book "Springfield Confidential" how this all came to be:
"Sam Simon designed the character, modeling Bergstrom's Semitic good looks (meaning bad looks) on mine.
The reason for this? It was Hoffman's joke about Bergstrom's Jewish features. "The Simpsons" writer Mike Reiss explained in his tell-all book "Springfield Confidential" how this all came to be:
"Sam Simon designed the character, modeling Bergstrom's Semitic good looks (meaning bad looks) on mine.
- 7/6/2024
- by Michael Boyle
- Slash Film
Margarida Cardoso’s “Banzo,” which plays in the main competition section of Karlovy Vary Film Festival this week, is a deeply evocative consideration of the literal heartbreak of colonialism in Africa. It was filmed on location on the islands of São Tomé and Príncipe, where ruins remain today of the cocoa plantations her characters populate.
Profits for the Portuguese plantation owners would be extraordinary and, they tell themselves, they are not slaveowners but employ African workers who chose to labor for them. That delusion is laid bare quickly as workers begin to collapse from a mysterious ailment in the fields while others hang themselves or begin to eat dirt rather than carry on with their labors.
This fatal form of longing for the homes and families they’ve been ripped from has a name among the workers, it turns out, even as it mystifies the doctor brought in to right the situation: Banzo.
Profits for the Portuguese plantation owners would be extraordinary and, they tell themselves, they are not slaveowners but employ African workers who chose to labor for them. That delusion is laid bare quickly as workers begin to collapse from a mysterious ailment in the fields while others hang themselves or begin to eat dirt rather than carry on with their labors.
This fatal form of longing for the homes and families they’ve been ripped from has a name among the workers, it turns out, even as it mystifies the doctor brought in to right the situation: Banzo.
- 7/6/2024
- by Will Tizard
- Variety - Film News
We're officially knee-deep in summer! The 4th of July just happened, and I'm sure some of you are gearing up for a summer vacation. Whether you're staying at home chilling in a tiny inflatable pool or heading out and hitting the beach, summer is a great time to just take it easy and disassociate from your normal, every-day life. It's also a great season for horror. I know there's a certain subset of folks — let's call them "normal people" — who primarily associate horror with autumn and Halloween. In fact, I've met more than one person in my life who has claimed they only watch horror movies around Halloween time. And while I'm not one to judge, I'll say this: why limit yourself? Horror can be celebrated year-round! Especially when there are a whole slew of scary movies set during the summer season. And that's where this month's horror streaming column comes in.
- 7/6/2024
- by Chris Evangelista
- Slash Film
“MaXXXine,” the third film in writer/director Ti West and producer/actress Mia Goth’s “X” trilogy, is now in theaters. From the ’70s set “X” to the 1910s of “Pearl” and now the ’80s of “MaXXXine,” one of the defining characteristics of the trilogy is how they adopt the look and filmmaking style of the genre of the films they are emulating. Cinematographer Eliot Rockett, a long-time West collaborator who shot all three films, told IndieWire the roots of this approach pre-dated 2022’s “X.”
“This started back with ‘House of the Devil,’” said Rockett, referencing the 2009 horror film he shot for West. “We were trying to make a movie that felt not just like a period, but the whole thing felt more like an artifact from that time.”
With “X,” West wanted to make his first slasher film in the spirit of 1970s films like “Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” in...
“This started back with ‘House of the Devil,’” said Rockett, referencing the 2009 horror film he shot for West. “We were trying to make a movie that felt not just like a period, but the whole thing felt more like an artifact from that time.”
With “X,” West wanted to make his first slasher film in the spirit of 1970s films like “Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” in...
- 7/6/2024
- by Chris O'Falt
- Indiewire
Special effects shenanigans are to be expected on almost any police procedural. After all, these shows often involve unusual crime scene setups, many with some kind of gag involved. With 12 seasons and 246 episodes, the beloved Fox series "Bones" had plenty of time for a special effect to misfire, and in one spectacularly silly case, it caused a bit of a decapitation mishap! Don't worry, no one was hurt, just a little embarrassed. Just before "Bones" started to find its footing with a stellar fourth episode, there was "A Boy in a Tree," following Special Agent Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz) and forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan (Emily Deschanel) as they investigate the remains of a teenage boy found hanging from a tree at a prestigious private school. The episode itself is decent enough, but behind-the-scenes things were just a little bit more difficult.
In the book "Bones: The Official Companion...
In the book "Bones: The Official Companion...
- 7/6/2024
- by Danielle Ryan
- Slash Film
What's the best Jack Nicholson movie? Ask a group of film fans, and you'll likely get a half-dozen different answers. The actor's most historically significant movie may be "Chinatown," the sun-baked California noir from 1974 that earned 11 Oscar nominations and a permanent spot in the American Library of Congress' National Film Registry. Or it might be "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," the beloved adaptation of Ken Kesey's novel that swept the Oscars in 1975 and turned the already-popular Nicholson into Hollywood's hottest commodity.
The actor's most popular films according to Letterboxd users are Stanley Kubrick's horror masterpiece "The Shining" and Martin Scorsese's crime saga "The Departed." His highest-grossing role at the box office came in 1989, when Tim Burton cast him as the rictus-grin supervillain The Joker in "Batman." Other popular moneymakers featuring the veteran performer include James L. Brooks' "As Good As It Gets," Nancy Meyers' "Something's Gotta Give,...
The actor's most popular films according to Letterboxd users are Stanley Kubrick's horror masterpiece "The Shining" and Martin Scorsese's crime saga "The Departed." His highest-grossing role at the box office came in 1989, when Tim Burton cast him as the rictus-grin supervillain The Joker in "Batman." Other popular moneymakers featuring the veteran performer include James L. Brooks' "As Good As It Gets," Nancy Meyers' "Something's Gotta Give,...
- 7/6/2024
- by Valerie Ettenhofer
- Slash Film
More than 15 years into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, we've seen a sizable number of villains that have run the gamut from street-level bad guys like Kingpin to universe-threatening, god-like beings such as Thanos. Next up, we'll see "The Crown" star Emma Corrin put their stamp on the McU's roster of baddies as Cassandra Nova, a character who has quite a wild origin story in Marvel Comics history. So, where did Corrin turn for inspiration to craft their villain? "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory," of all places.
Corrin was recently the subject of a cover story for GQ. During the conversation, it was revealed that the actor took inspiration from a couple of cinematic classics. They referred to Gene Wilder's Willy Wonka as "one of the best villains of all time," right alongside Christoph Waltz in "Inglourious Basterds." Both influenced their take on Cassandra Nova. Both are great performances,...
Corrin was recently the subject of a cover story for GQ. During the conversation, it was revealed that the actor took inspiration from a couple of cinematic classics. They referred to Gene Wilder's Willy Wonka as "one of the best villains of all time," right alongside Christoph Waltz in "Inglourious Basterds." Both influenced their take on Cassandra Nova. Both are great performances,...
- 7/6/2024
- by Ryan Scott
- Slash Film
‘Three Days of Fish’ Review: A Warm Breeze of Melancholy Runs Through This Dutch Father-Son Portrait
If Alexander Payne’s home discomforts weren’t Nebraskan but instead the soft climate and flat sidewalks of Rotterdam — if his name were Alexander Peijn, perhaps — his films might turn out a little like Peter Hoogendoorn’s hangdog charmer “Three Days of Fish.” At once universally familiar and so quintessentially Dutch in flavor that it should come with a side of fritessaus, this story of a brief, fraught reunion between a distant father and his unmoored son is an intimate, closely examined character piece rooted in the director’s own family history — much like his debut “Between 10 and 12,” which premiered at Venice in 2014 but never found the international distribution it deserved. Bowing in competition at Karlovy Vary, this decade-later sophomore feature may be modestly built, but has enough emotional heft and wry humor to raise Hoogendoorn’s profile on the arthouse circuit.
It takes a little time to work out...
It takes a little time to work out...
- 7/6/2024
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety - Film News
“That’s not art. A striptease isn’t art. It’s too direct. It’s more direct than art.”
That line from Akira Kurosawa’s “Ikiru” sums up a lot of feelings people seem to have about nudity in film. The history of painting and sculpture is full of nude portraiture, which is regularly and comfortably classified as art. But the nude scene in movies is rarely discussed alongside a Canova marble statue or Manet’s “Olympia.” Movies blur the boundaries between “real life” and artistic indirection so thoroughly that people discuss nude scenes in movies as practically everything but art. It’s “content” that deserves an “advisory,” or something akin to “porn,” however the Supreme Court is classifying that these days.
As many have noted, the very nature of the actor’s job demands the audience look at them. So when nudity enters the (literal) picture, it complicates the relationship between viewer and viewed.
That line from Akira Kurosawa’s “Ikiru” sums up a lot of feelings people seem to have about nudity in film. The history of painting and sculpture is full of nude portraiture, which is regularly and comfortably classified as art. But the nude scene in movies is rarely discussed alongside a Canova marble statue or Manet’s “Olympia.” Movies blur the boundaries between “real life” and artistic indirection so thoroughly that people discuss nude scenes in movies as practically everything but art. It’s “content” that deserves an “advisory,” or something akin to “porn,” however the Supreme Court is classifying that these days.
As many have noted, the very nature of the actor’s job demands the audience look at them. So when nudity enters the (literal) picture, it complicates the relationship between viewer and viewed.
- 7/6/2024
- by Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
Sequels tend to rub people the wrong way. Sure, audiences will go see them, but they'll certainly bemoan their initial announcements and speculate about their quality before seeing a single frame. There's an inherent, deafening cynicism. Meanwhile, if you talk to hardcore horror fans, the sequel is given far more goodwill. A variety of major horror franchises have seen many sequels prolong their legacies and become part of the genre's fabric. Though these sequels are far from perfect, they are never boring. In fact, horror sequels tend to up the ante following the original film's success, leading to massive swings that are rejected by the masses but are wholly embraced by the more open-minded horror fanbase.
Unfortunately, this is all difficult to translate in the era of rating aggregates like Rotten Tomatoes. Yes, despite the last few years revealing its inherently broken system, the Warner Bros. Discovery and NBCUniversal-owned...
Unfortunately, this is all difficult to translate in the era of rating aggregates like Rotten Tomatoes. Yes, despite the last few years revealing its inherently broken system, the Warner Bros. Discovery and NBCUniversal-owned...
- 7/6/2024
- by Larry Fried
- Slash Film
(Welcome to Tales from the Box Office, our column that examines box office miracles, disasters, and everything in between, as well as what we can learn from them.)
"'American Pie' is the latest in a long tradition of immature, self-indulgent comedies that celebrate the recklessness of adolescents." That's what Looking Closer's Jeffrey Overstreet had to say in his original review of "American Pie" in 1999. On the flipside, Film Threat's Chris Gore declared the movie to be "one of the greatest teen films of all time." Let us never forget that two things can be true at once.
Written by an unknown named Adam Herz, it originally began circulating with the clever title "Untitled Teenage Sex Comedy Which Can Be Made for Under $10 Million That Studio Readers Will Most Likely Hate But I Think You Will Love." The gimmick worked and it got the attention of studios, becoming the...
"'American Pie' is the latest in a long tradition of immature, self-indulgent comedies that celebrate the recklessness of adolescents." That's what Looking Closer's Jeffrey Overstreet had to say in his original review of "American Pie" in 1999. On the flipside, Film Threat's Chris Gore declared the movie to be "one of the greatest teen films of all time." Let us never forget that two things can be true at once.
Written by an unknown named Adam Herz, it originally began circulating with the clever title "Untitled Teenage Sex Comedy Which Can Be Made for Under $10 Million That Studio Readers Will Most Likely Hate But I Think You Will Love." The gimmick worked and it got the attention of studios, becoming the...
- 7/6/2024
- by Ryan Scott
- Slash Film
The development of a television show is always kind of a wacky, potentially surprising thing, but the creation of the classic CBS television series "Gilligan's Island" is truly one for the books. Series creator Sherwood Schwartz, who would also go on to create the immensely popular "The Brady Bunch" for ABC, famously developed the series purely based on his idea for the theme song. In his defense, it's an earworm and it explains the entire backstory for the show, so it's basically perfect as far as theme songs go, but there were some folks at CBS who just weren't entirely sold on the concept. In fact, the president of CBS at the time, Jim Aubrey, absolutely hated the show and wanted nothing to do with it!
Eventually, it was Aubrey himself who greenlit "Gilligan's Island," surprising Schwartz and everyone who helped create the initial test pilot. In the book "Sitcom...
Eventually, it was Aubrey himself who greenlit "Gilligan's Island," surprising Schwartz and everyone who helped create the initial test pilot. In the book "Sitcom...
- 7/6/2024
- by Danielle Ryan
- Slash Film
Tom Hanks is an affecting lead but the popularity of Robert Zemeckis’s much-loved Oscar-winner is still a curious mystery
In the 30 years since becoming a box-office phenomenon, en route to winning six Oscars, including best picture, director, actor and adapted screenplay, Forrest Gump has settled into the culture as a significant achievement, canonized by its induction into the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry – and, to a slightly lesser extent, by the few dozen Bubba Gump Shrimp Company restaurants worldwide. Other best picture nominees may be more beloved, like The Shawshank Redemption, or influential, like Pulp Fiction, but none that captured the public imagination on quite the same scale.
And yet it’s still worth asking, after all this time: What is the deal with this movie? What is it actually trying to say?...
In the 30 years since becoming a box-office phenomenon, en route to winning six Oscars, including best picture, director, actor and adapted screenplay, Forrest Gump has settled into the culture as a significant achievement, canonized by its induction into the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry – and, to a slightly lesser extent, by the few dozen Bubba Gump Shrimp Company restaurants worldwide. Other best picture nominees may be more beloved, like The Shawshank Redemption, or influential, like Pulp Fiction, but none that captured the public imagination on quite the same scale.
And yet it’s still worth asking, after all this time: What is the deal with this movie? What is it actually trying to say?...
- 7/6/2024
- by Scott Tobias
- The Guardian - Film News
Globe-trotting in search of picture-perfect scenes for the screen is not always as glamorous as it sounds. But to better understand these unsung heroes’ shadowy art, you first have to track them down …
The script called for a tree: a magical kind that looked like no tree on Earth. It would need to look like it had been standing for thousands of years. It would need to be in a wood full of dark twisty branches and dense canopies. It would need to seem like the place that a hardened nobleman might escape to for a moment of quiet. And Robert Boake knew just the one.
Boake had been working as a location scout in Northern Ireland for a few years, when in 2008 a producer sent him the script for the pilot episode of Game of Thrones. The producer “got me in my car exploring Ireland”, Boake explains, his excitement clear over the phone.
The script called for a tree: a magical kind that looked like no tree on Earth. It would need to look like it had been standing for thousands of years. It would need to be in a wood full of dark twisty branches and dense canopies. It would need to seem like the place that a hardened nobleman might escape to for a moment of quiet. And Robert Boake knew just the one.
Boake had been working as a location scout in Northern Ireland for a few years, when in 2008 a producer sent him the script for the pilot episode of Game of Thrones. The producer “got me in my car exploring Ireland”, Boake explains, his excitement clear over the phone.
- 7/6/2024
- by Rebecca Liu
- The Guardian - Film News
When "Veronica Mars" first debuted in 2004, it came with a hell of a premise. Right off the bat, it was clear that the show about a teenage P.I. was a far cry from the Nancy Drew mysteries of decades past. Veronica is a firebrand, a cynical high schooler with a taser and a mission –- or several. Rob Thomas' show begins with an almost overwhelming influx of mysteries, giving Veronica a dead best friend, a missing mom, and a disturbing date-rape past to reckon with. While rival teen shows like "The O.C." painted a slightly softer portrait of SoCal elites, "Veronica Mars" took a nihilistic approach to its fictional subjects, presenting the rich and famous residents of Neptune, California as corruptible at best and actively horrible at worst.
"Veronica Mars" traded in noir and mystery tropes first and foremost, but it earned cult classic status in large part thanks...
"Veronica Mars" traded in noir and mystery tropes first and foremost, but it earned cult classic status in large part thanks...
- 7/6/2024
- by Valerie Ettenhofer
- Slash Film
As Hollywood grapples with production delays, locally made films are boosting the industry in countries such as Thailand and Indonesia
On social media videos, audiences throw packs of tissues around the cinema halls. Tearful TikToks from across Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore show friends leaving the cinema weeping. Thailand’s latest hit film, How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies, has reduced audiences across south-east Asia to tears – and broken box office records.
The film, about a university dropout who offers to care for his terminally ill grandma, hoping to inherit her house, has reportedly earned 334m Thai baht ($9.1m) at the Thai box office and become the most successful Thai film ever in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.
On social media videos, audiences throw packs of tissues around the cinema halls. Tearful TikToks from across Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore show friends leaving the cinema weeping. Thailand’s latest hit film, How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies, has reduced audiences across south-east Asia to tears – and broken box office records.
The film, about a university dropout who offers to care for his terminally ill grandma, hoping to inherit her house, has reportedly earned 334m Thai baht ($9.1m) at the Thai box office and become the most successful Thai film ever in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.
- 7/6/2024
- by Rebecca Ratcliffe South-east Asia correspondent
- The Guardian - Film News
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