Film certification board of India refuses to certify "Lipstick under my burkha", thereby blocking its release. Their reasons include that it is “lady oriented”
A new poster of the film "Colossal"
"It’s not hard to see why having Anne Hathaway and the Kaiju genre might not sound right in the same sentence. Hathaway, a pristine, highly talented, Oscar nominated actress has never really delved in the monster genre. And yet, in director Nacho Vigalondo‘s “Colossal” the mix turns out wondrous results. The 33 year-old actress plays a woman who suspects that her mental breakdown might be the reason why apocalyptic events are happening in Seoul. It’s an original and memorable Kaiju movie that has Hathaway surprising us with geek-mode range we never thought existed in her. Oh, and did I mention this movie is certifiably nuts"
Full Interview I had with Colossal's stars Anne Hathaway and Jason Sudeikis HERE.
Jimmy Kimmel was probably the best Oscar host since Billy Crystal way back in the early '90s
I thought this was the funniest bit of the whole evening. One of best skits/sketches of the show. They could've gone completely overboard with the Matt Damon thing but Kimmel balanced it perfectly. "We Bought A Zoo" is abysmal and I love how Damon seems to acknowledge that and be on the joke. Seems like a great, down to earth guy.
Another Kimmel/Damon highlight? When they announced "Ben Affleck and guest" my wife and I were laughing so hard we could barely breathe. I really hope Jimmy Kimmel and Matt Damon continue to feud all the way to their graves.
I just love how funny, witty and meta Jimmy Kimmel was as this year's Oscar host. Far and away the best host we've had in years. The show was basically a 4 hour episode of the Jimmy Kimmel show, but who knew that could translate into a great Oscar telecast.
My only concern about Kimmel returning? Envelope-gate. It wasn't his fault at all, but if the Oscars want to get past it and start from scracth next year they probably don't want the same host coming back, right? Or maybe I'm just stretching it here. Regardless, here's to Jimmy Kimmel's fanastic Oscar hosting duties this past Sunday.
What's New on Netflix in March
March 1
- “Angry Birds” (Season 2, 2013)
- “Blazing Saddles” (1974)
- “Chicago” (2002)
- “Deep Run” (2015)
- “Dirt Every Day” (Season 1, 2013)
- “Epic Drives” (Season 2, 2015)
- “Friday After Next” (2002)
- “Head 2 Head” (Season 2, 2013)
- “Hot Rod Unlimited” (Season 1, 2013)
- “Ignition” (Season 1, 2013)
- “Impossible Dreamers” (2017)
- “Jurassic Park” (1993)
- “Jurassic Park III” (2001)
- “Kate and Mim-Mim” (Season 2, 2015)
- “Know Your Enemy – Japan” (1945)
- “Kung Fu Panda” (2008)
- “Let There Be Light” (1946)
- “Memento” (2000)
- “Midnight in Paris” (2011)
- “Nacho Libre” (2006)
- “Nazi Concentration Camps” (1945)
- “Roadkill” (Season 2, 2013)
- “Rolling Stones: Crossfire Hurricane” (2012)
- “San Pietro” (1945)
- “Singing with Angels” (2016)
- “Sustainable” (2016)
- “Slums of Beverly Hills” (1998)
- “The Craft” (1996)
- “This Is Spinal Tap” (1984)
- “Tenacious D in: The Pick of Destiny” (2006)
- “The Lost World: Jurassic Park” (1997)
- “The Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress” (1944)
- “The Negro Soldier” (1944)
- “Thunderbolt” (1947)
- “Tunisian Victory” (1944)
March 3
- “Greenleaf” (Season 1, 2016)
March 4
- “Safe Haven” (2013)
March 5
- “Señora Acero” (Season 3, 2016)
March 7
- “Amy Schumer: The Leather Special” (Netflix Original)
March 8
- “Hands of Stone” (2016)
- “The Waterboy” (1998)
March 9
- “Thithi” (2015)
March 10
- “Buddy Thunderstruck” (Season 1, Netflix Original)
- “Burning Sands” (Netflix Original)
- “Love” (Season 2, Netflix Original)
- “One More Time” (Season 1, Netflix Original)
- “The Boss’ Daughter” (2016)
March 13
- “Must Love Dogs” (2005)
- “Million Dollar Baby” (2004)
March 14
- “Disney’s Pete’s Dragon” (2016)
- “Jim Norton: Mouthful of Shame” (Netflix Original)
March 15
- “Disney’s The BFG” (2016)
- “Notes on Blindness” (2016)
March 16
- “Beau Sejour” (Season 1, Netflix Original)
- “Coraline” (2009)
- “Deidra & Laney Rob a Train” (Netflix Original)
- “Julie’s Greenroom” (Season 1, Netflix Original)
- “Marvel’s Iron Fist” (Season 1, Netflix Original)
- “Naledi: A Baby Elephant’s Tale” (2016)
- “Pandora” (Netflix Original)
- “Samurai Gourmet” (Season 1, Netflix Original)
March 18
- “Come and Find Me” (2016)
- “The Vampire Diaries” (Season 8, 2016)
March 20
- “El Reemplazante” (Season 1-2, 2012)
March 21
- “Ali & Nino” (2016)
- “Another Forever” (2016)
- “Evolution” (2015)
- “Fire at the Sea (Fuocoammare)” (2016)
March 23
- “How to Get Away with Murder” (Season 3, 2016)
- “Welcome to New York” (2015)
March 24
- “Bottersnikes & Gumbles” (Season 2, Netflix Original)
- “Déjà Vu” (2006)
- “Felipe Neto: My Life Makes No Sense” (Netflix Original)
- “Grace and Frankie” (Season 3, Netflix Original)
- “Ingobernable” (Season 1, Netflix Original)
- “Spider” (2007)
- “The Square” (2008)
- “The Most Hated Woman in America” (Netflix Original)
- “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” (1988)
March 25
- “The Student Body” (2017)
- “USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage” (2016)
March 26
- “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou” (2004)
March 27
- “Better Call Saul” (Season 2)
March 28
- “Archer” (Season 7, 2016)
- “Jo Koy: Live from Seattle” (Netflix Original)
March 30
- “Life in Pieces” (Season 1, 2015)
March 31
- “13 Reasons Why” (Season 1, Netflix Original)
- “Bordertown” (Season 1, Netflix Original)
- “Cooper Barrett’s Guide to Surviving Life” (Season 1, 2016)
- “Dinotrux” (Season 4, Netflix Original)
- “FirstBorn” (2016)
- “Five Came Back” (Netflix Original)
- “GLOW: The Story of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling” (2012)
- “Rosewood” (Season 1)
- “The Carmichael Show” (Season 1-2)
- “The Discovery” (Netflix Original)
- “Trailer Park Boys” (Season 11, Netflix Original
What’s Leaving Netflix In March 2017?
March 1
- “Jaws”
- “Jaws 2”
- ”Jaws 3”
- “Jaws: The Revenge”
- “Justice League: War”
- “Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox”
- “Keeping Up Appearances”
- “Monarch of the Glen” (Seasons 1–7)
- “National Lampoon’s Animal House”
- “Robin Hood” (Seasons 1–3)
- “Survivors” (Series 1–2)
March 2
- “Black or White”
- “Sweetwater”
March 3
- “Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey”
- “Misfire”
- “Web Junkie”
March 4
- “Entertainment”
- “I Dream of Wires”
- “Otto the Rhino”
- “Seashore”
- “The Discoverers”
- “The Nanny Diaries”
March 5
- “Food Chains”
- “Jail Caesar”
- “The Days to Come”
- “Two Hundred Thousand Dirty”
March 6
- “Pit Stop”
- “Rigor Mortis”
March 7
- “Hansel vs. Gretel”
March 8
- “Love at First Fight”
- “The Starving Games”
March 15
- “Boy”
- “B for Boy”
- “My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend”
- “Sushi: The Global Catch”
March 16
- “American Dreamz”
March 23
- “Love Me”
- “The Invincible Iron Man”
March 25
- “All Stars”
- “Pup”
- “The Perfect Wedding”
March 27
- “Dragonwolf”
March 28
- “Erasing Hate”
- “The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness”
March 29
- “6 Guns”
- “Detropia”
- “I Melt With You”
- “Mega Shark vs. Mecha Shark”
- “The Life and Crimes of Doris Payne”
Matt Reeves Signed On To THE BATMAN Because He Was Promised To Have "Final Say" On The Movie
Good to know that Matt Reeve's negotiation tactic ("My way or the highway") paid off. WB execs are probably starting to realize that meddling with the creative process is not particularly the best way to go about it. It has failed thus far for them. Better let directors, you know, direct. Also glad to hear that James Wan will be getting the creatIve freedom needed for "Aquaman"
"The studio waited a few days, saw that this was rapidly becoming another black eye for the the DCEU, and they (bat)caved. They went back to Reeves, told him he had the final say on all things The Batman, and that’s why he came back and officially signed on. In the press release from Warner Bros. on the hiring of Reeves, they made mention of his talent for “world-building,” as that seems to be the vital ingredient in their arrangement. Reeves didn’t want to simply be a director-for-hire; He wanted to build up a world for The Dark Knight."
James Cameron criticizes THE FORCE AWAKENS and praises Lucas' prequels
“Well, George Lucas is a friend of mine,” he prefaced. “I don’t want to say too much about the film because I also have a lot of respect for J.J. Abrams and I want to see where they’re taking it next." “I have to say that I felt that George’s group of six films had more innovative visual imagination, and this film was more of a retrenchment to things you had seen before and characters you had seen before, and it took a few baby steps forward with new characters,” Cameron said. “So for me the jury’s out.”
[Variety]
A Wick-ian Defense
Screenwriter Matthew Wilder's ("Dog Eat Dog") message on Facebook:
"Can you explain this WICK thing? I thought this movie was retarded. Everything about it. Especially the "dialogue" which played like it was written by an ESL person. The Franco Nero cameo...The rivals nodding at each other in what I guess is meant to be "samurai style"...the whole thing was, to quote Pauline Kael, something that "seemed like it was conceived by an evil four-year-old."
My response as follows:
"Are you talking about the sequel? The original wasn't that amazing. The sequel, however, is an empty exercise in stylistic action. I love Keanu doing his own stunts and how the action scenes barely have any cuts in them. (Take that Michael Bay and every other action movie of the 21st century!) The camera just flows magnificently. Also there a ton of headshots in the film, how can you complain about that? Not supposed to be high art, but I think today's action directors should really take a look at the way director David Leitch choreographs the whole thing."
"Can you explain this WICK thing? I thought this movie was retarded. Everything about it. Especially the "dialogue" which played like it was written by an ESL person. The Franco Nero cameo...The rivals nodding at each other in what I guess is meant to be "samurai style"...the whole thing was, to quote Pauline Kael, something that "seemed like it was conceived by an evil four-year-old."
My response as follows:
"Are you talking about the sequel? The original wasn't that amazing. The sequel, however, is an empty exercise in stylistic action. I love Keanu doing his own stunts and how the action scenes barely have any cuts in them. (Take that Michael Bay and every other action movie of the 21st century!) The camera just flows magnificently. Also there a ton of headshots in the film, how can you complain about that? Not supposed to be high art, but I think today's action directors should really take a look at the way director David Leitch choreographs the whole thing."
Newly-released "Alien: Covenant" featuring Xenomorphs
"Ridley Scott returns to the universe he created, with ALIEN: COVENANT, a new chapter in his groundbreaking ALIEN franchise. The crew of the colony ship Covenant, bound for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy, discovers what they think is an uncharted paradise, but is actually a dark, dangerous world. When they uncover a threat beyond their imagination, they must attempt a harrowing escape."
The film, opening May 19th, stars Katherine Waterston, Billy Crudup, Danny McBride, Demián Bichir, Carmen Ejogo, Amy Seimetz, Jussie Smollett, Callie Hernandez, Nathaniel Dean, Alexander England, and Benjamin Rigby.
Mark Hamill for Oscar?
"The Force Awakens director and Last Jedi executive producer tells The New York Daily News that Hamill’s work on Episode VIII is Oscar caliber: “I think we are all going to be very upset if he does not win an Oscar, and no one more upset than Mark.”
And Ryan Reynolds thinks that Logan should win Best Picture ... Although I shouldn't really criticize that because "Logan" is a damn fine Marvel movie. Anyway, the academy lost all credibility when they overlooked Hamill for "Corvette Summer," that very "fine" post-A New Hope flick which had Hamill's post-graduate hooking up with a "hooker-in-training" to find his stolen corvette.
[ScreenRant]
In new interview Christopher Nolan reveals Dunkirk's story and intentions
If Christopher Nolan has been criticized for anything it's for his use of dialogue. He usually writes the screenplays to his films, sometimes with his brother Jonathan as credited co-writer. His knack for words is, shall we say, not as profoundly inventive as his visual eye or thought for story and detail. He has supposedly corrected that in "Dunkirk" by being more sparse with dialogue, instead opting for "pared back" dialogue and confirming the film is a "survival tale."
My colleagues over at [The Playlist] have translated French Premiere's cover story on Nolan's Dunkirk and an exclusive interview with the director himself.
“The film is told from three points of view. The air (planes), the land (on the beach) and the sea (the evacuation by the navy). For the soldiers embarked in the conflict, the events took place on different temporalities,” Nolan said (via Google translation). “On land, some stayed one week stuck on the beach. On the water, the events lasted a maximum day; And if you were flying to Dunkirk, the British spitfires would carry an hour of fuel. To mingle these different versions of history, one had to mix the temporal strata. Hence the complicated structure; Even if the story, once again, is very simple.”
“This is an essential moment in the history of the Second World War. If this evacuation had not been a success, Great Britain would have been obliged to capitulate. And the whole world would have been lost, or would have known a different fate: the Germans would undoubtedly have conquered Europe, the US would not have returned to war,” he said. “It is a true point of rupture in war and in history of the world. A decisive moment. And the success of the evacuation allowed Churchill to impose the idea of a moral victory, which allowed him to galvanize his troops like civilians and to impose a spirit of resistance while the logic of this sequence should have been that of surrender. Militarily it is a defeat; On the human plane it is a colossal victory.”
I've liked every Nolan I've seen except for his debut "Following," so there's no reason why I won't dig much of what I see in "Dunkirk," but will it have the transcendant feeling of watching "Memento," "The Dark Knight" or even "Inception" for the first time?
“Dunkirk” opens on July 21st.
Bong Joon-Ho's "Okja" looks fantastic
For all its third act flaws, I loved Bong Joon-Ho's "Snowpiercer." So much so that it made my ten best list of 2014. He had his pblic fight against Producer Harvey Weinstein's insistence to snip the film, but the film ended up being a mild commericial success and a knockout critical success. Netflix has given him total carte banche here to make "Okja," which I don't know too much about except for this newly released trailer which looks phenomenal.
The film stars Tilda Swinton, Jake Gyllenhaal, Paul Dano, Lily Collins and is shot by photography wizard Darius Khondji. Are we excited yet? the film which follows a young girl that refuses to give up and puts everything on the line to prevent a powerful company from kidnapping her best friend, Okja, a unique, beastly animal.
When is Netflix going to be screening this for me? I presume I might actually be watching this at the Cannes Film Festival this coming May.
“Okja” premieres on Netflix June 28th.
This year's Oscars had a lot of "Firsts"
- First time two black nominees won Best Supporting awards in the same ceremony; in general, first time an Oscar ceremony featured more than 3 black winners
- First time in almost twenty years that all acting winners are American
- First time in 10 years that the Best Actor nominee who won the SAG did not win the Oscar (Washington/Affleck)
- First time a Muslim actor won an Oscar (Ali)
- First time in almost 20 years that all acting awards went to people playing fictional people
- First time a movie with 14 nominations failed to win Best Picture
- First time a Potter movie won an Academy Award
- First time a DC Universe movie won an Academy Award
- First time a living person was included in the "In Memoriam" Segment
- First time Kevin O'Connell won an Oscar after 21 nominations (Hacksaw Ridge, Sound Mixing)
- First time the wrong Best Picture winner was announced
- First time Netflix (White Helmets) and Amazon (Manchester By the Sea) films won Oscars
Other random trivia:
- Natalie Portman is the first absentee acting nominee since Judy Dench (2014)
- Ryan Gosling joins Jonah Hill and Eddie Redmayne as the only male actors born after 1980 to be nominated for acting awards more than once
- This year was the first time in 9 years that an American male won Best Director
- This year's ceremony is the longest running one in 10 years (3 hours 50 minutes)
- Damien Chazelle is the youngest person to win Best Director
- OJ Made in America is the longest film to win an Oscar (7 hours, 47 minutes)
- Iran is the fourth country to win 2 Oscars after Argentina, Austria and Japan (which has won 4).
- No Best Picture winner in the past 10 years has featured an actress nominated in the lead role
[Source]
Priceless: See the Looks on Celebrities’ Faces at the Exact Moment of the Oscars Mix-Up
Best reaction? Check out The Rock on the right-hand side of the picture. For you non-wrestling fans, that's called the "people's eyebrow."
Sony exec: 'Fake news' will give Asghar Farhadi and The Salesman the Best Foreign Language Oscar
[Image courtesy of CNN]
Sony Pictures Classics executive Tom Bernard pointed the finger at Best Foreign Film winner, “The Salesman,” in an non-tradional and aggresive manner. All this even before Iran's Oscar submission even won the Oscar. It all felt pre-ordained. It was a no-brainer. Farhadi's film was going to win.
“It’s fake news that will give Asghar the Oscar,” “The media has made the foreign race about a vote against Trump and not about the films.”
“He made one statement [about not attending the Oscars due to Trump’s Muslim ban). Then the media went and blew it up,” Bernard added.
As much as I do believe "The Salesman" deserved the Oscar and was my favorite of the five nominees, Bernard is on to something here. There is no denying that "Toni Erdmann" was the frontrunner of the category before the whole travel ban happened and the ensuing VISA problems Farhadi endured because of it.
This wasn't a win becase of the film's quality, but more a win for political reasons, which is not far off as to why Moonlight won Best Picture or Viola Davis and Mahershala Ali nabbed their coveted trophies. No diss intended on Barry Jenkins' movie, or the performances, which were all great, but this year's telecast was a clear and utter chance for a major political statement by the Hollywood elite. Self-congratulatory in a way. A jerk-off session or whatever you may want to call it. As I've stated before, no coincidence that Ali, Davis, Moonlight all won right after #OscarsSoWhite happened. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that.
As I told Hollywood Elsewhere's Jeffrey Wells last night: "Flashback to "In the Heat of the Night" winning post-death of MLK. I think in both cases the choice was mandated by the racial politics of the moment."
This shot of the Best Picture envelope reveals that Moonlight didn't actually win the Oscar ....
Kevin O’Connell wins his first Oscar after 21 nominations.
#OscarsSo...What???!! - Stagehand said, mid-LA LA LAND acceptance speech, "Oh, f-ck. Oh my God. He got the wrong envelope."
Biggest Embarrassment in Oscar History: La La Land winning Best Picture, then loses to Moonlight because of an envelope error. The picture below confirms that Beatty was holding the "Best Actress in a Leading Role" envelope.
We should probably lay-off Beatty and Dunaway, who were clearly handed the wrong envelope, you could even see it in the replay Beatty looking for another card in the envelope because he clearly saw "Emma Stone, La La Land." He did, however, throw Dunaway under the bus. NOT cool Warren. H basically said "I ain't reading this, here Faye read the envelope." Regardless, this was an epic fuck-up on an even grander scale than Steve Harvey's major hiccup last year at the Miss America Beauty Pageant.
Dunaway is not a happy camper at the moment, and for good reason. Regardless, some poor backstage stagehand will be out of a job and blacklisted for life because of this. That's Hollywood for ya. All in all just a badly managed situation. So there you have it, Moonlight wins Best Picture.
Meanwhile, my editor over at AwardsDaily, Sasha Stone, left the ceremony before Best Picture was announced to beat L.A. traffic. She must not be happy at the moment. She missed an Oscar moment of historic proportions. Something that will forever live in infamy. Kimmel + this fuckup made it one of the most memorable Oscar telecasts I have ever seen. She did, however, in the 11th hour, pick Moonlight to win Best Picture in her annual predictions. Congrats Sasha! I can't think of anybody else that predicted Barry Jenkins' film to win.
Even the Academy's Twitter account got confused ....
PWC issued the following statement after the show:
“We sincerely apologize to “Moonlight,” “La La Land,” Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, and Oscar viewers for the error that was made during the award announcement for Best Picture. The presenters had mistakenly been given the wrong category envelope and when discovered, was immediately corrected. We are currently investigating how this could have happened, and deeply regret that this occurred.
We appreciate the grace with which the nominees, the Academy, ABC, and Jimmy Kimmel handled the situation.
— PriceWaterhouseCoopers
This is all Rothman’s idea, by the way. He’s going to pour millions into this campaign because he believes “Brand New Day” is a great movie.