Jack Nicholson is about to retire from acting according to good pal Peter Fonda















It has been rumored for a few years now that Jack Nicholson had retired from acting, but we never really got a confirmation from the man himself. Rumor had it that he couldn't quite remember his lines anymore, whereas others speculated that he was just tired of the industry. Who knows, but I'm still holding out hope that he might come back for one final gig. After all, the guy's last film was 2010's dreadful "How Do You Know." Yikes. Please don't go out on that note Jack.

 I'm an unabashed, hardcore Jack Nicholson fan. The man is living legend and he basically owned the 70s and 80s with his charsimatic, loosely stylized acting. In many of his movies he was the sardonic drifter, the eternal outsider, a man that always rebelled against societal structure. 

The New York Post's Page Six has Nicholson's great pal Peter Fonda quoted as saying:

 “I think he is ­basically retired. I don’t want to speak for him, but he has done a lot of work and he has done very well as a person financially.”

 "Sometimes ­people have a reason that you don’t know, and it’s not for me to ask. I don’t call him up and say, ‘Johnny,’ I call him Johnny Hop, ‘What are you doing?’ I would say, ‘How are you, how do you feel?’”

 Favorite Nicholson? It's too hard for me to choose one, but I'll give you guys some of his greatest performances: "Easy Rider,"  "Five Easy Pieces," "The Last Detail," "Chinatown," The Passenger," "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," "The Shining," "Terms of Endearment," "Prizzi's Honor," "Batman," "A Few Good Men," "As Good As It Gets," "The Pledge," "About Schmidt" and "The Departed."

 Right there folks is one of the greatest actors of all-time.

A Dog’s Purpose accused of animal cruelty after disturbing footage emerges



Wasn't going to see this anyway, but now you can be damn sure I'll be telling everyone I know not to see it either. Let's make this movie flop hard and teach Hollywood a lesson. Consumers won't stand for this sort of thing.

 I hope this gets upvoted and spread like wildfire. These stories so often come out long after a film has come out and have little impact. Only way to teach Hollywood is through their pocketbooks. This kind of behavior should be punished.

 This is extremely upsetting to watch, particularly the last few moments. Especially when the book is all about how special and loving dogs are. People suck.
The Huffington Post has it this way:
"In a video obtained by TMZ and posted on Wednesday, a crew member or trainer for the film is seen forcing a German Shepherd to perform a “stunt” that seems extremely unsafe ― so much so as to call into question how animals were handled over the entire course of the film’s shooting."
"In the final version of the movie, the police dog appears to bravely rescue a young girl after she falls into a rushing river. But in the behind-the-scenes clip ― which was shot outside of Winnipeg, Canada, in November 2015 ― a trainer is seen pushing the scared German Shepherd into a rough pool of water as he tries to claw his way out. After much resistance, the dog eventually gets into the water, but ends up being submerged for so long that handlers yelled, “Cut it!” 
"At the start of the video, a person also can be heard saying, “Don’t worry, it’s warm water at least.”
Amblin Partners and Universal Pictures, the companies behind the movie, shared a statement with TMZ after watching the video.
“Fostering a safe environment and ensuring the ethical treatment of our animal actors was of the utmost importance to those involved in making this film and we will look into the circumstances surrounding this video,” the statement read. 

 “A Dog’s Purpose,” which debuts on Jan. 27, stars Britt Robertson, Dennis Quaid and Josh Gad’s voice.

Akira Kuroawa's advice to young filmmakers



"It costs a great deal of money to make films these days, and it's hard to become a director. You must learn and experience various things to become a director, and it's not so easily accomplished. But if you genuinely want to make films then write screenplays. All you need to write a script is pencil and paper. It's only through writing scripts that you learn specifics about the structure of film and what cinema is. That's what I tell them, but they still won't write. They find writing too hard. And it is. Writing scripts is a hard job. Still .. Balzac said that for writers, including novelists, the most essential and important thing is the forbearance to face the dull task of writing one word at a time. That is the first requirement for any writer. When you consider Balzac's body of work with that in mind , it's just staggering because he produced a volume of written work that we couldn't finish reading in our lifetimes."

Criterion's April releases will include THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG and Coppola's RUMBLE FISH

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I'm glad they're releasing Rumble Fish instead of The Outsiders. The former is the far better and artful S.E. Hinton adaptation. In fact, the difference in tone and style between the two is quite drastic, you would probably think that Coppola learned valuable lessons from filming "The Outsiders" and brought that experience to "Rumble Fish." It really is just night and day in terms of how different they are via tone, tempo, style, shot selection. It's probably the last watch-ably compulsive film of Coppola's career.

"The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" being released, in what will most likely be, a month or so after "La La Land" wins Best Picture is not a coincidence. Damien Chazelle has not been shy in mentioning "Cherbourg" as his biggest influence in making "La La Land." The colors, dancing, singing, surrealist aspect of Jacques Demy's 1960's masterpiece are apparent in every frame of Chazelle's great film.


Courtesy of the Press Release:

The Criterion Collection April 2017
New Releases In April,

 We’re serving up a ramen western from Juzo Itami, a vibrant music documentary from Wim Wenders, a tale of alienated youth from Francis Ford Coppola, and a battle-of-the-sexes comedy from George Stevens. Plus, two candy-colored musicals by Jacques Demy will be released as single editions.

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The "Impossible Mirror Shot" in Robert Zemeckis' Contact












I will say this, technically there are probably not many directors in the same league as Robert Zemeckis. This is coming from someone that doesn't really like anything he's done post- "Contact," but realizes the technical prowess that Zemeckis possesses. The guy is also a solid storyteller. At some point in his career he was on a roll (Romancing the Stone, Back to the Future, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Forrest Gump).

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RAW is the cannibal movie that had people fainting at festivals worldwide, but it's also one of the very best coming of age movies this decade

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I look forward to revisiting Julia Ducournau's "Raw" at this year's Sundance Film Festival. The film was a real sensation at last year's Quinzaine at the Cannes Film Festival. It's a blood delight to see such a mature and unique horror film get its due. It also won the prestigious FIPRESCI prize. All this to say that it truly belongs within the "New Wave" of horror filmmaking that we have been witnessing of late. Some incredibly exciting movies are being made independently with very little in the way of budget (The Witch, The Babadook, It Follows, Green Room, You're Next) . Exciting times ahead for Horror buffs.

 Here is my Cannes review dated 5.27.16

Sundance 2017

In less than a week the Sundance Film Festival will be under way and I will be there to cover all the mayhem that is bound to happen in Park City this year.

If you remember last year we had one of the very best editions of the fest, a remarkable lineup: "Manchester by the Sea," "OJ: Made in America," "Love & Friendship," "Sing Street," "Certain Women," "Hunt For the Wilderpeople," "The Fits," "Swiss Army Man," "Weiner," "Captain Fantastic," "Little Men," "Indignation" and even Nate Parker's controversial "The Birth of a Nation."

2014 didn't have too shabby a lineup either: "The Witch," "Brooklyn," "Tangerine," "The End of the Tour," "The Diary of a Teenage Girl," "Mississippi Grind," "Mistress America," "Me, Earl and the Dying Girl," "Dope," "Grandma,"

The more Hollywood goes into crass commercialism the more likely a film festival like Sundance will matter. It's as simple as that. This year I have my eyes on many films, especially world premieres, the NEXT section, Documentary and the Official Competition. These look like the films to look out for, on paper, t but usually the major surprise hit of the fest comes out of left field so it might not even be on this list, which makes the feeling of experiencing Sundance all the more exciting:


I chose these mostly due to the director, already established, but I want something MORE than that. The point of Sundance is to discover the future of cinema and to be blown away by a filmmaker that has directed his or her debut feature.

 One can't forget the great movies over the years that gave Sundance its incredible reputation: Joel and Ethan Coen's Blood Simple, Jim Jarmusch's Stranger Than Paradise, Steven Soderbergh's Sex, Lies & Videotape, Charles Burnett’s To Sleep with Anger, Todd Haynes’ Poison, Richard Linklater’s Slacker, Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs, Kevin Smith’s Clerks, Bryan Singer’s The Usual Suspects, David O. Russell’s Spanking the Monkey, Todd Solondz’s Welcome to the Dollhouse, Stanley Tucci and Campbell Scott’s Big Night, Darren Aronofsky’s Pi, Mary Harron’s American Psycho, Richard Kelly’s Donnie Darko, Kenneth Lonergan’s You Can Count on Me, Christopher Nolan’s Memento, Noah Baumbach’s The Squid and the Whale, Duncan Jones’ Moon, Debra Granik’s Winter’s Bone, Jeff Nichols’ Take Shelter, Lee Daniels’ Precious, Tom McCarthy's The Station Agent, Ben Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild, Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash and Ryan Coogler’s Fruitvale Station,

Sundance still feels vitally important. Having premiered 9 Best Picture nominees in the last 7 years, it's a continuous hotbed for low-budget indie filmmakers who just want a chance and represent American filmmaking that isn't compromised by greed. Godspeed.

Whatever happened to Rob Reiner?

Rob Reiner was on a major cinematic roll during the span of 1984-1992. In 8 years he released THIS IS SPINAL TAP (1984), STAND BY ME (1986), THE PRINCESS BRIDE (1987), WHEN HARRY MET SALLY (1989), MISERY (1990) and A FEW GOOD MEN (1992). 

 Ever since then he's been stuck in a rut that will likely never end: NORTH (1994), GHOSTS OF MISSISSIPPI (1996), THE STORY OF US (1999), ALEX & EMMA (2003), RUMOR HAS IT (2005), THE BUCKET LIST (2007), THE MAGIC OF BELLE ISLE (2012), AND SO IT GOES (2015), BEING CHARLIE (2015) and LBJ (2016) the latter which wasted the opportunity of chronicling one of the most perplexing and fascinating U.S. presidents of our time in favor of a dull, uninspired movie.

 What happened? I think this could be a case of Reiner not adapting to the times. Most of his movies since 1995's THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT have had a nostalgic feel to them, by-the-books narratives that belong more in the 80s and 90s than modern-day times. It seems like he hasn't really matured as a filmmaker and instead has relied on safe filmmaking and become more novice as the times changed. 

 I do know people in Hollywood that want him to make a comeback and he's been given shot after shot, project after project, but he's been stuck in this rut now for nearly 25 years. You can also blame the fact that he's never really been what you might call an "auteur." There really isn't a personal directorial touch to any of his films.  A lot of his movies are just so different and don't have a specific noticeable style. He does comedies like "A Princess Bride" then dramas like a "A Few Good Men". Was that streak of 6 classics just a stroke of luck? Did he just find the right screenplays coming at him right after the other?

This shot is further proof of the amazing cinematography from the 1927 film "Wings"


That look of drunkenness by the actor (Charles Rogers) who is poured the glass of champagne at the end of the shot - that's not acting, he's really drunk:

In the scene in which Rogers becomes drunk, the intoxication displayed on screen was genuine, as although 22 years of age, he had never tasted liquor before, and quickly became inebriated from drinking champagne.

Such detail to his craft, this is taking method acting to its absolute limits.

 Imagine th trail of destruction behind the cameraman with his camera pushing through all the tables.

Scorsese's SILENCE crash and burns at the box-office


















Sometimes, or actually many times, the stuff that happens in Hollywood is just unfair. Case in point: Scorsese's masterful "Silence" becoming one of the major box-office bombs of the year. This was a personal project for Marty, so I do believe he is satisfied by what he put out on the screen, but it must hurt knowing people have just not responded as well to the film as you might have anticipated. In time, "Silence" will gets it due. The poor box-office is also due to the fact that the film is just not getting any awards buzz, was completely shut down from the Globes and will likely resort to the same fate when the Oscar nominations get announced next week. 

"The forecast is even worse for Silence, which is likewise expanding nationwide this weekend into a total of 747 theaters. The epic historical drama is tipped to earn just $2 million-$3 million for the four days after costing $50 million to make. Silence was financed independently, with Paramount handling distribution and marketing duties. Neither Silence nor Live by Night have generated much awards interest."

 Source: THR

Official: Lucasfilm has no plans to digitally recreate Carrie Fisher’s performance as Princess or General Leia Organa.














"We don’t normally respond to fan or press speculation, but there is a rumor circulating that we would like to address. We want to assure our fans that Lucasfilm has no plans to digitally recreate Carrie Fisher’s performance as Princess or General Leia Organa. Carrie Fisher was, is, and always will be a part of the Lucasfilm family. She was our princess, our general, and more importantly, our friend. We are still hurting from her loss. We cherish her memory and legacy as Princess Leia, and will always strive to honor everything she gave to Star Wars."

 Source: Star Wars

ROGUE ONE added one if its best scenes in the last minute



Gareth Edwards spoke to Yahoo Movies:

"What was added — and it was a fantastic add — was the Vader action scene, with him boarding the ship and dispatching all those rebel soldiers," he told Yahoo Movies. "That was something conceptualised a little later."

"It was a really great punch in the arm and something I think fans wanted to see," said Gilroy.

The original cut apparently was just going to end with Jyn (Felicity Jones) and Cassian (Diego Luna) passing on the physical copy of the Death Star plans, which would eventually end up in a digitized Leia's hands.

I do love how they added the Vader sequence to spice things up the final moments of  the film. As I've previously mentioned in this site, the last 20 or so minutes of "Rogue One" are the best moments of the entire film. They link up to "A New Hope" in such a masterful way and the Vader sequence made me feel so giddy. I mean, who doesn't want to see Vader using his skills to kick ass .... No matter how evil the son of a bitch is.

Michael Jackson movie URBAN MYTHS will NOT come out due to controversy

Joseph Fiennes Michael Jackson















U.K. Channel Sky Arts has announced that they will not be airing the episode of Urban Myths which was going to deal with a post-9/11 road trip taken by Michael Jackson (Joseph Fiennes), Elizabeth Taylor (Stockard Channing) and, yes, Marlon Brando (Brian Cox) back in 2001.

Jackson's daughter Paris tweeted these scathing words about the project (which might have prompted the negative reaction that happened)


















Here’s Sky Arts' full statement via Billboard:
"We have taken the decision not to broadcast Elizabeth, Michael and Marlon, a half hour episode from the Sky Arts Urban Myths series, in light of the concerns expressed by Michael Jackson’s immediate family. We set out to take a light-hearted look at reportedly true events and never intended to cause any offense."
"Joseph Fiennes fully supports our decision."
And so, this film will be shelved indefinitely and, quite possibly, never see the light of day, but how about finding a way to get this out to the public. Quite possibly via a leak? I know it looks like a trainwreck waiting to happen, but I am just curious about the artistic motivation the filmmakers had in making something like this. I want to see what they were trying to achieve by depicting these three legends embarking on that infamous road trip. It looks and sounds like a guilty pleasure.

Confirmed: Disney are in talks with Carrie Fisher's estate to digitize her for Episode IX

As we reported to you a week ago, Carrie Fisher's Princess Leia had a "significantly important" role in Episode IX (HERE). The tragic death of the actress has brought upon a lot of questions, most of which involve how to replace her in the ongoing saga. Well, we might just have our answer as reports are indicating that Disney will want to digitize her for the finale. 

According to BBC Newsnight, Lucasfilm are in the middle of meetings to settle the delicate problem at hand. All signs lead to Fisher getting digitized according to the source..“And if what might be regarded as unseemly haste, Disney is negotiating with the actor’s estate over her continued appearance in the franchise. If Disney gets the go-ahead, Carrie Fisher will join Peter Cushing…”Let us not forget that Fisher also appears briefly as Leia at the end of "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," as a CGI recreation. In that same movie they also digitized the late British actor Peter Cushing, who died in 1994, and who played Death Star commander Grand Moff Tarkin in the original series. The film used CGI for the astounding effect which left some fans cold and distanced, including myself. The technology will, however, only get better in the next few years, with even Martin Scorsese having a crack at it by digitizing Robert De Niro into his younger self in the upcoming "The Irishman."

Another Record For 2016 - The Top Five Films Worldwide Were All Released By One Studio, Disney (in current order: CIVIL WAR, FINDING DORY, ZOOTOPIA, JUNGLE BOOK & ROGUE ONE).

I wrote on 11.14.16

"Good God, next thing you know Disney's CEO's will be candidates for the American Presidency. The monopolization of Disney is ridiculous. They will take over cinema and diminish the quality of movies, as if they haven't done that already, and they will most likely have no other competitor left. That's my doomsday scenario for you on this lovely afternoon. Read it and weep."

Directors Guild of America, precursor to the Oscars, has its five nominees


Source/DGA

Also for first-Time Feature Film:
Garth Davis, “Lion”
Kelly Fremon Craig, “The Edge of Seventeen”
Tim Miller, “Deadpool”
Nate Parker, “Birth of a Nation”
Dan Trachtenberg, “10 Cloverfield Lane”
No Scorsese, Jarmusch, Larrain, Saulnier, or Mackenzie, but they did include Lion's Garth Davis? Oy vey. Also Mel Gibson for "Hacksaw Ridge" was more than deserving compared to Davis' direction. It looks like these will be our five nominees for Best Director, unless Martin Scorsese, the dark horse, can sneak in there somehow. I'm still dumbfounded by the lack of excitement for "Silence." What exactly happened? As I mentioned to a friend the other day, as we were talking about the why "Silence" has been met with such a shrug, Scorsese's film reawakened so much stuff I kept locked inside of me for too many years. The questions it asks are somewhat taboo in our society, most are too scared to even ask them. Maybe that's why it wasn't met with the overall acclaim I thought it deserved. It scared too many people away with its themes. It's not a visceral ride, it's a meditative and thoughtful journey into the 21st century psyche.

By the way, I absolutely have no problem with the four other nominees.

In my 9.16.16 review of "Lion" for The Film Stage at TIFF, I wrote the following:

"Garth Davis‘ directorial debut Lion is based on a true story. The film makes sure to tell us that at the very beginning of the movie — just to remind us that whatever we’re about to see in front of us were real events inspired by real people. We first see the main character of the film, Saroo, at all but five years old, wandering the streets of central India by helping out his mom, a rock carrier, and his brother, the man of the house. In a random, but realistic, turn of events Saroo ends up on runaway train and gets lost thousands of kilometers away in the streets Calcutta. The first half, all in Hindi and Bengali with English subtitles, is dynamite, encompassing an exotic world far away from us that nevertheless feels all too intimate and relatable. Saroo is a tiny fella and he ends up surviving many dilemmas by simply doing what he does best: running.

"After a stint at a nasty, abusive Calcutta Orphanage, Saroo ends up adopted by an Australian couple in Tasmania. The film goes forward 25 years later, the memory of Saroo’s real family still looming in his head, he opts to find them by using something as simple as Google Earth, and this is where the drama starts to struggle. If the first half is an indelible treat and gives one high hopes that a film delicately placed in the awards season will in fact meet its steep expectations, the second half is troublesome and falls flat."