"Moonlight" is a technically better and more artfully impressive movie that "Green Book". However, I just think the final 20, or so, minutes of it are incredibly pretentious. The first two stories were perfect in every way, shape and form -- there was none of the preachy and didactic nature of the last third.
Read moreNo Press Screenings For Joe Carnahan's ‘El Chicano'
I wouldn’t mind seeing Joe Carnahan’s “El Chicano,” despite its 38% Rotten score. I’ve always found Carnahan to be a decent pulp-influenced director -- In fact, he's been amassing quite an amount of fans these last few years. Good on him; His style is strongly influenced by both Tarantino and Michael Bay, but he still manages to bring out his own voice to the mix. He’s almost like a 21st century version of Peckinpah but injected with a mass amount of steroids. The Peckinpah similarities do get enhanced once you learn that Carnahan also describes himself as a " functioning alcoholic." His debut feature “Narc,” starring Ray Liotta and Jason Patric, is still his best movie, followed closely by the Liam Neeson wolf movie “The Grey.” I wouldn’t put anything else he’s done in a category with those, but there are minor merits to be had in Carnahan-directed movies as “Smokin’ Aces” “Stretch,” and “The A-Team.”
Read moreSome Are Not Happy That Alain Delon Is Receiving An Honorary Palme D'or at Cannes
So what can actually happen in the case of Alain Delon and Cannes honoring the legendary French actor in two weeks? Absolutely nothing. But, of course, there is resentment, among a fringe in the U.S, that Delon, who is 83, does not deserve to receive an honorary Palme d’Or at the forthcoming edition of the Festival.
Read moreA New Jane Campion Movie Starring Elizabeth Moss and Benedict Cumberbatch? Sign Me Up.
Legendary writer-director Jane Campion hasn’t directed a movie since 2009’s “Bright Star,” since then, she’s mostly dabbled in creating the TV series “Top of the Lake,” which was quite wonderful, but didn’t come close to the landmarks Campion had created over her illustrious 25 year career. Those landmarks are, as far as I’m concerned, “The Piano,” “Sweetie,” and “An Angel at My Table.” I also have great respect for “The Portrait of A Lady,” and the now, thanks to gender studies classes in film schools nationwide , feminist classic, “In the Cut” (a wildly uneven B-movie that is as fascinating as it is messy and frustrating).
Read moreRaimi's ‘Spider-Man 2' Is Still the Best Spidey Movie Ever Made
“Spider-Man: Far From Home” will be the 7th Spider-Man film we’ve gotten since 2002’s “Spider-Man.” ‘Far From Home’ is set to swing into theaters on July 5, 2019. It will be another MCU mega-hit, no doubt about it. I’ve had more than enough with these constant rebootings of “Spider-Man,” it does seem that Tom Holland is here to stay, he embodies Peter Parker in ways Andrew Garfield just couldn’t, but my excitement for a new Spider-Man movie has been on a downward spiral ever since I heard Raimi was gone and it was being rebooted, before this new reboot with Holland.
And yet, “Spider-Man 2" is still, far and away, the best webslinger movie ever. It may also be the most perfect superhero movie ever made - Its director Raimi was the guy that came closest to pouring Stan Lee's brains onto the screen.
Read moreJames Gray and Brad Pitt’s ‘Ad Astra’ Not Opening May 24 — Delayed Yet Again
What exactly is going on with James Gray’s “Ad Astra”?
Read moreScott Z Burns' ‘The Report' Will Be Released On September 20, 2019.
It does look like Scott Z. Burns’ “The Report” will be released by Amazon on September 20th, 2019 [Source]. That is most definitely not a very Oscar-friendly release date, to say the least. The movie was slightly overpraised back in January at Sundance, but I was a fan, by saying it was “a brutal and unforgiving journey into the deepest pits of governmental corruption.” Knowing what’s going on right now with the FBI/CIA abuses being uncovered, I would think this is a fairly relevant movie to watch, especially a few months from now …
It does look like the September release date will mostly just coincide with TIFF, and then be swept away into oblivion in the chaotic fervor of ensuing Oscar season months, but “The Report” could still make a mark, it’s as relevant as any movie likely to be released this year.
I wrote this on AW earlier this weekend:
It started off very slow but the second half is strong. It's not worthy of any awards, but it works, for the most part. Driver is excellent. Ditto Benning as Feinstein. The villain of the whole thing is Obama's former CIA director John Brennan, as played by Ted Levine. It helps that it is very of-the-moment, but I can't see anyone going gaga over this one. It's a very distancing piece of work from Burns, he really goes for ice-cold detachment, which will alienate many.
Brad Pitt’s Brother Decided to Recreate the Ending of ‘Seven' For Commercial Ad
Mother Brewer’s Company, a Springfield ,Missouri company, which happens to be Brad Pitt’s hometown. They recently had the ingenious, and quite laughable, idea of casting Pitt’s own brother, and fellow Springfield resident, Doug Pitt in a commercial to play, well, Brad Pitt. In it, Doug tries to recreate his own brother’s “what’s in the box?!” freak-out, a scene from Fincher’s iconic “Se7en.” A rather tense moment, which has Pitt’s Detective Mills slowly, but very surely, realizing that his wife is dead and that her dismembered head is in a box riiiight next to him. Suffice to say, Doug, actually holds his own and, at times, shares rather strikingly reminds us of his much-more-famous brother.
Read more‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ Director Says Sonic Will Be Re-Designed After Intense Backlash From Trailer
I couldn’t even utter a word, let alone type one, after I saw this past week’s released trailer for Paramount’s upcoming live-action “Sonic the Hedgehog” movie. I mean, it was bad, real bad. Add in an over-acting Jim Carrey, basically spoofing his old self, as the villain et voila you have a potential recipe for disaster at the box-office.
Read moreCritics Poll: ‘Mad Max: Fury Road' Named Best Movie of the 2010s
250 critics, programmers, academics, and distributors have spoken.
Read moreCritics Poll: Top 75 Movies of the Decade
The full top 75.
Read moreJean-Luc Godard Says He's Working on His Next Film, A Yellow-Vest Drama
88-year-old Jean-Luc Godard has revealed that he is working on a new movie. This all confirms what I have long suspected, that his latest feature “The Image Book” was not going to be his swan song. Of course not, the guy lives to make films, why would he just quit like that? If anything, the creative process is giving him meaning and purpose in his twilight years, much like Woody Allen, actually.
Read moreWill Disney's Upcoming Live-Action ‘Aladdin' Disappoint At the Box-Office?
Is it just me or is the ridicule being thrown at Disney’s upcoming live-action “Aladdin” worrying Disney? In terms of box-office prospects, at the very least. If anything, it seems, to me at least, that people have already looked past “Aladdin” and are now looking to “The Lion King” as the next Disney ticket they will buy.
Read moreYou Should Not Be Celebrating the $1.2 Billion “Avengers: Endgame” Made This Weekend
The mega-billion dollar conglomerate that is Disney has just taken a major step in taking over the world of movies further this past weekend, that is if they even haven’t already. “Avengers: Endgame” made $350 million domestically and $1.2 billon worldwide this past weekend.
Read moreMark Hamill Tweets Fake Picture About Disney's “Missed Opportunity" at Reuniting Han, Lando, Leia and Luke
Mark Hamill is an automatic go-to for World of Reel. Whenever the guy opens his mouth we tend to cover the outrageously honest things he says. Hamill just tweeted away a “what if” scenario on Twitter with the hashtag #MissedOpportunies. A reunion, of-sorts, between Han, Lando, Leia and Luke. Oh, what could have been.
Read moreIs There Panic in 007 World? ‘Bond 25' Details Announced
‘Avengers: Endgame’ Leaks Online
Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige and Joe/Anthony Russo are pleading with fans not to ruin “Avengers: Endgame,” [via Associated Press] especially after a few scenes had leaked online:
Read moreCritics Poll — Best Movies of the Decade
The much-anticipated Best Movies of the Decade critics poll will be posted next Tuesday. Sorry for the delay, but a bunch of important critics decided to send me their lists at-the-very-last-minute. In other words, theamount of critics participating has risen considerably since last week, which is why I’ve been delaying the results being posted. The final total seems to be 201 lists.
‘The Matrix' Changed Everything
Has it really been twenty years since The Wachowskis released, more like unleashed actually, “The Matrix” to astonished audiences worldwide? The effect that this movie had was damn-near cathartic for, not just audiences, but producers, writers, directors, choreographers all around the industry. I wrote this about “The Matrix” for Awards Daily in article dated 05.30.16:
Read more‘Apocalypse Now: Final Cut' Now Clocking In at 183 Minutes?
The Tribeca Film Festival is starting this weekend, the big event is, of course, a showing of the 4K “Apocalypse Now: Final Cut,” with Francis Ford Coppola in attendance. As Jeffrey Wells just pointed out on Hollywood-Elsewhere, the runtime of this new cut has been changed on Tribeca’s official site, drastically might I add, from the original 147 minutes to now a much heavier 183 minutes. WTF!?
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