Ben Affleck completes rehab treatment for alcohol, "The Batman" won't start filming until 2018






Variety's Justin Kroll says you can forget about "The Batman" coming out anytime before 2019. Filming will start in 2018. This alligns perfectly well with Matt Reeves taking over the project as director, but having a mega-blockbuster coming out this year, "War for the Planet of the Apes." Promotion and such for the film will probably have Reeves unavailble for most of the year.

Also, "The Batman" star Ben Affleck just announced yesterday that he completed rehab for alcohol treatment. That is another reason why a delay is a must.

Netflix To Complete and Release Orson Welles' Final Film "The Other Side Of The Wind"












Last May, an Indiegogo campaign was launched to help complete Orson Welles' final film, "The Other Side of the Wind." The six-year shoot was plagued by budget cuts, troubles in production, casting and other legal issues.  It remained unfinished at the time of Welles’ death in 1985. 
Netflix announced today that it nabbed the global rights to the film, the deal implies that they finance the completion and restoration of "The Other Side of the Wind," this would all lead to a full-throttled release in and around the year 2018. 
The synopsis is as follows:
"The film covers the 70th birthday party of movie director Jake Hannaford, who is struggling to make a commercial comeback. It opens with Hannaford's death just after the party, and mostly focuses on the night before his death. We also see extracts of Hannaford's daring new film-within-a-film, The Other Side of the Wind. As we learn more about Hannaford at his party, the audience realises that he is a far more complex character than he seems, and harbors several big secrets."
"The film presents a cynical portrait of Hollywood in the 1970s, parodying the passing of the studio system, and the experimental new film-makers of the new Hollywood, as well as mocking successful European directors such as Antonioni. It was shot in a variety of different styles—color, black-and-white, still photography, 8mm, 16mm and 35mm film, all rapidly intercut together, and was planned as a collage of these different styles."

 I contributed to the IndieGoGo for this restoration two years ago. Here's what the campaign email said today: 

 "Dear Contributors, 

 My sincere apologies for the long silence. 

 At long last, I’m thrilled to share with you the news that Netflix has acquired global rights and will finance the completion and restoration of The Other Side of the Wind. Working closely with Netflix, Producer Frank Marshall and I will oversee the restoration and completion of the film with consultation from Peter Bogdanovich. 

 With Netflix’s unparalleled global reach, The Other Side of the Wind will be Orson Welles’ widest release ever… and, hopefully, introduce a whole new generation of film lovers to his work. 

 However, given Netflix’s unique business model, making this happen meant renegotiating certain rights deals. Once I engaged in those talks, I was unable to comment on the state of the film, hence the extended silence. All told, the deals took a year and a half to close, but, in the end, every painstaking moment was worth the effort. I needed to take a step back so that we could take this giant leap forward. 

 Thanks to your contributions, we were able to continue working throughout this time, prepping the negative outside of Paris... and I can confirm that the negative is now in Los Angeles and work will commence immediately. 

 I must commend everyone on your patience and thank you for your faith, trust and commitment. I hope you are as proud as I am to be part of something historic... and now, because of our collective efforts, the film will be seen the world over.  

 For those of you worried about your perks, we’ll start to roll those out in the coming weeks… and, in a rare move, Netflix is honoring our commitment to you by allowing the production of a limited-edition DVD/Blu-ray, just for our contributors. More to come… more frequently. 

 Sincerely, Filip"

 Deadline has quotes from the main participants of this incredible project, which is finally coming to life before our very eyes. 

The Hollywood Reporter's 2007 review of Superbad is totally off and kinda ridiculous

Image result for superbad 2007 600x200

Why would anyone compare a Judd Apatow comedy to an erotic drama like Y Tu Mama Tambien? They don't even have that many similar thematic elements. Funny story, in the "Superbad" track commentary this review is brought up by Jonah Hill. He comments on how ridiculous the review is and how "not cool" it is to compare "Superbad" with "Y Tu Mama Tambien." 

 "The friendship of Seth and Evan has homoerotic undertones, and there's a funny scene where they declare their undying love for each other. But because this is an American movie, don't expect the frankness of Alfonso Cuaron's "Y Tu Mama Tambien," which took the close friendship of two horny teenage pals to its logical conclusion. In "Superbad," the lovefest between the best friends is strictly platonic, which makes it nonthreatening to the crowds at the multiplex."

[THR]

Sony finds director for "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" sequel - Daniel Craig, David Fincher and Rooney Mara not returning

Image result for girl with the dragon tattoo 2007 600x200

Why even bother? They're skipping the 2nd and 3rd book. No Daniel Craig, no Rooney Mara and no David Fincher. Also who had the braindead idea to do the 4th book, which is widely considered to be the worst one of the series? Incredibly strange decision by Sony on this one. Fede Alvarez is a promising director, "Don't Breathe" proved that, but it will be very hard for him to match what Fincher did with the 2011 film [Original Review].

Courtesy of The Wrap:

"The search is on for an actress to take over the role of punk hacker Lisbeth Salander, last played by Rooney Mara, in a sequel to David Fincher’s “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.”
"Sony Pictures has hired “Don’t Breathe” filmmaker Fede Alvarez to direct the film, “The Girl in the Spider’s Web,” with a release date of Oct. 5, 2018 locked in. Production on the thriller will begin in September."
"Mara isn’t the only cast member not returning to the series: Sony said the sequel will feature an entirely new cast, meaning Daniel Craig won’t be back as love interest Mikael Blomkvist."
"In 2015, a source told TheWrap Alicia Vikander was being courted to play Salander in “The Girl in the Spider’s Web, based on the fourth book in the Millennium series and the first written by David Lagercrantz following the death of series creator Stieg Larsson."

"Kick-Ass" and "Kingsman" director Matthew Vaughn in talks to direct "Man of Steel 2"

man-of-steel-2-director-matthew-vaughn


Sure seems to be the end of the Zack Snyder era in the DC universe. First Patty Jenkis directs "Wonder Woman," then Gareth Edwards takes over "The Batman" and, now, Matthew Vaughn is being tapped to direct Snyder's former baby: "Man of Steel 2." I'd say this is a slap in the face, wouldn't you? It's not like Snyder amassed that many new fans with his take on the DC universe ("Man of Steel," "Batman vs Superman"). If anything, he was much more succesful tackling "The Watchmen," which is still, by all accounts, a decent-enough superhero movie, but nowhere near the movie it could have been in the hands of a more formidable filmmaker. 

 "Sources tell us that "Kingsman: The Secret Service" filmmaker Matthew Vaughn is Warner Bros.’ top choice to direct "Man of Steel 2," and preliminary conversations about the prospect have taken place. This isn’t yet in the deal-making stage, and Vaughn could very well end up not directing the film, but he’s who Warner Bros. wants at this point in time. Moreover, sources tell us that if Vaughn for some reason doesn’t direct "Man of Steel 2," Warner Bros. still wants him to helm another superhero movie in the DCEU."

 [Collider]

Frank Oz hinting that Yoda might be in "The Last Jedi"

Image result for yoda

Last we saw Yoda, chronologically of course, he died on Dagobah in “Return of the Jedi,” but since he is the badass to end all badasses in the Star Wars saga, do you really think that was the last we'd hear from him? Especially with these Disney reboots banking on nostalgia, Yoda had to conceivably make some sort of appearance in the latest saga? Frank Oz now seems to be hinting, probably under embargo, that our assumptions have been proven correct and we will see his creation appearing again on-screen next December:
“I feel like I’m a prisoner at war here, and I can only give you my name, rank and serial number. To be true to the people who asked me, and they are kind of my family, I have to say I’ve been asked not to talk about it. I love Yoda. I would be happy to talk to you about it at the time they let me” - Frank Oz

Terrence Malick "witch hunt" is currently at full-throttle



















The above headline, courtesy of THR, has me cringing at the thought that the Terrence Malick "witch hunt," that has been happening ever since "To The Wonder," which then continued with "Knight of Cups" and now has hit a peak of animosity with "Song to Song," has finally hit its goal of de-legitimizing the once legendary director. 

The THR story goes on to state this:

 "Critics also are having a hard time wrapping their heads around the latest from Malick, who made his name with Badlands but then famously dropped out of view for 20 years after 1978's Days of Heaven, returning with the critically acclaimed The Thin Red Line. In a late-career rush, Malick has directed The Tree of Life, To the Wonder and Knight of Cups — all to mixed, at best, receptions."

 What the author gets wrong here is that "The Tree of Life" earned rapturous reviews, won the Palme D'or at Cannes and went on to get nominated for, both, Best Picture and Best Director. With the already click-baity headline and now mixing up the facts, there is a clear agenda here.

 I wrote a little more extensively about the SXSW premiere of Malick's "Song to Song" HERE, I will be catching the film next week at a Boston Common press screening. I mean, how could I possibly miss a Terrence Malick film, no matter how ill received. I'm actually much more looking forward to his WWII film "Radegund," which, cross your fingers, will be at Cannes this year. 

 As you can tell I have not yet given up on Malick, because who seriously gives up on an esteemed auteur? Did we give up on Scorsese when he released "New York, New York"? Did we give up on the Coens when they released the back-to-back curiosities "Intolerable Cruelty," and "The Ladykillers"? How about when Spielberg released "Always," "The Last Crusade" and Hook" in a span of three years? I won't lie that I am worried about Malick, but I am cautiously optmisitic that he will get out of this funk. 

 [The Hollywood Reporter]

Here's a list of every Disney live-action remake we will be getting

Image result for the lion king
Two weeks ago I had somewhat reserved thoughts on Disney's live-action remake of "Beauty and the Beast." 
"I had somewhat strong hopes for Bill Condon's live-action adapation of "Beauty and the Beast," but those hopes were drowned somewhere near the start of this expansive, but middling film. The songs are, as always great, but, let's get real here folks, this is practically a shot for shot remake of the 1991 classic. Albeit with a few new tunes added into the second half. It turns out that this is a predictable yarn of a film that just doesn't give us anything new or fresh."
"It actually made me appreciate, even moreso, last year's much more succesful rehash of "The Jungle Book," no thanks to the visual prowess of its director Jon Favreau. Nostaligiasts will no doubt eat up Condon's film, but there's someting almost too cold and calculating about the whole proceedings here. I will say this though, the film does pick up and try new things in its second half, which ends up being much more succesful than the first hour. Emma Watson is great, isn't she always, and the rest of the cast delivers, especially Luke Evans as Gaston who brings out all the machismo related to the character in new and effective ways."
Suffice to say, this is only the beginning for Disney live-action vehicles, As you can attest from this lineup, thanks to Collider, we are in for a decade plus of Disney remakes, the good news is that most of these have a proven and effective director at the helm. I do look forward to Jon Favreau's take on "The Lion King." The stage play has already become a classic and is a visual feast of producton design, costmes, makeup etc. That, and Tim Burton's remake of "Dumbo" could work out just fine for us critics that have to show up to these screenings on a yearly basis now.

Beauty and the Beast
Release Date: March 17, 2017
Director: Bill Condon


Mulan 
Release Date: November 2, 2018
Director: Niki Caro


The Lion King

Released Date: TBA 2019
Director: Jon Favreau


Dumbo

Release Date: TBA
Director: Tim Burton


Aladdin

Release Date: TBA
Director: Guy Ritchie

Christopher Robin
Release Date: TBA
Director: Marc Forster

Oliver Twist
Director: Tommy Kail
Writer: TBA


James and the Giant Peach

Release Date: TBA
Director: Sam Mendes


Peter Pan

Release Date: TBA
Director: David Lowery


 I've only listed those that have a director, there's also film versions of  "Tinkerbell," Cruella," "The Little Mermaid," "The Sword in the Stone," and "Pinnochio" all coming out. God help us all.

Ridley Scott thinks "Gladiator 2" could happen: "I know how to bring him back"

gladiator.jpg

Nope, this is not courtesy of The Onion. Ridley Scott really thinks he can find a way to bring back to life Russell Crowe's Maximus for another go-round at the Colosseum. 

"I know how to bring him back," Scott revealed. "I was having this talk with the studio — ‘but he’s dead.’ But there is a way of bringing him back. Whether it will happen I don’t know. Gladiator was 2000, so Russell’s changed a little bit. He’s doing something right now but I’m trying to get him back down here."

 [The Independent]

"Wonder Woman" - "Origin" trailer



Sorry folks, I just can't get on the bandwagon with this one. The only thing convincing me this could be better than all the other DC movies is that Patty Jenkins is the director and could surely bring a female perspective to the boys club. Everything else looks just, blah.

 Official Synopsis:

 "Before she was Wonder Woman, she was Diana, princess of the Amazons, trained to be an unconquerable warrior. Raised on a sheltered island paradise, when an American pilot crashes on their shores and tells of a massive conflict raging in the outside world, Diana leaves her home, convinced she can stop the threat. Fighting alongside man in a war to end all wars, Diana will discover her full powers…and her true destiny."
“Wonder Woman” will open on June 2nd.

Edgar Wright's "Baby Driver" gets a trailer, poster and SXSW reviews















"Baby Driver" just premiered 2017 SXSW Film Festival, the reviews have fantastic thus far. This is the first film director Edgar Wright has released since 2013's "The World's End." His aborted plan to direct "Ant-Man" is probably the cause of this delay between movies. Ansel Elgort, Kevin Spacey, Lily James, Jon Bernthal, Eiza González, Jon Hamm, and Jamie Foxx star in "Baby Driver" and the official synopsis reads like this: "A talented, young getaway driver (Ansel Elgort) relies on the beat of his personal soundtrack to be the best in the game. But after being coerced into working for a crime boss (Kevin Spacey), he must face the music when a doomed heist threatens his life, love and freedom."

The trailer looks a like a visually candy-colored combination of "Drive," The Driver" and "Thief." I'm not sure if its going to be its own unique beast or if it will rely too heavily on its influences, one thing's for sure though, Edgar Wright doesn't do boring, he's one of the most visually interesting filmmakers working today, just look at what he did with "Scott Pilgrim vs. The World."

 I'm counting on Cannes hopefully choosing this for their selection, but, who knows, I might have to wait until August 11th, which is when "Baby Driver" opens.

Terrence Malick actually shows up to his movie premiere at SXSW, takes questions post-screening



I don't know why I kept hesitating and delaying my viewing of Terrence Malick's "Knight of Cups," I had heard about the advanced buzz and I already didn't like his last film, "To The Wonder," which felt like a rehash and half assed imitation of his prior, more creatively inspiring work. Suffice to say that I did end up watching Knight Of Cups recently and it wasn't very good. I really hate to ask this question, but has he lost it?


"Knight of Cups" and "To The Wonder" were, as mentioned, a pale imitation of the his older, more succesful films (The Tree of Life). These are films that never really find their footing and are stale for most of its running time. Malick's shtick seems to be a) shoot with no script b) improvise as you go along c) contemplate life's deepest questions with wide lensed shots courtesy of Emmanuel Lubezski. A predictable, crying shame if you ask me, this comes to us from an auteur that took a lifetime to follow up 1978's "Days Of Heaven," more precisely twenty years. Now he's released 4 films in the past ten years - has his iconic status diminished because of the productivity and the fact that now we don't really see him as this perfect director anymore? I don't think it's as simple as that, but if this continues it'll be his demise. He already wrapped up shooting "Radegund" a World War II film which is rumored as a possible Cannes title.

 Malick is such a mysterious man, I've heard stories about him showing up at Cannes during the premiere of "Tree of Life" and just sitting in the back incognito. He is supposedly shy, socially awkward, not really a publicly open kind of man. I know Malick had a small, almost invisible cameo in "Badlands." I don't think I've ever heard him speak to tell you the truth. His whereabouts unknown in the "making of" docs of his feature films. That's fine, I understand that, but what made him decide to finally appear at South By Southwest for the premiere of his new film "Song to Song."  The man can't possibly be doing this? or is he really going through with it? Well, we have video proof that it did happen. Richard Linklater was moderating and Michael Fassbender, lead of "Song to Song" was onstage as well.


Some awkward moments here and there where they just don't have anything to say, mostly due to Malick's shyness, but it does hold up and, somewhat, gel. A fascinating document of what will is a unique moment in cinematic history.   

 I have already written a review of "Voyage of Time" his latest film, a doc about the beginning, middle and end of time. I dug it for the most part. Review should get posted in the coming week. I'll be comparing the differences between the 45 minute Brad Pitt narrated IMAX version and the 90 minute Cate Blanchett narrated feature-length version

 As for "Song to Song," well, the reviews are mixed:




































Logan Getting Black & White Cut on DVD/Blu-Ray Release


As cool as this all sounds, the color in "Logan" seemed perfect to me. That dreamy dusty gray and brown made it feel like a classic western. I am not too sure if the outdoor scenes would really benefit from black and white.

"Mangold is developing a black and white version of Logan that will appear on the DVD. After dancing around the question he confirmed it.” It is something we are doing,” he said. The idea started because he thinks Jackman looks best with a kind of pretty harsh lighting and that transitions well into black and white. B&W photos he was taking during production were released and found their way on to the Internet.” I think it even surprised everyone to the degree that there is a kind of a running assumption that black and white is a turnoff for most people. It caused such an extreme reaction, and so much appreciation for these pictures, and then people immediately wondering if the film itself was going to be in black and white, and so we are giving it a whirl, and I think the Blu-ray will come out with a pass on it. I think it will be a very handsome black and white version of the picture,” he said. George Miller did something similar with his chrome version of Mad Max: Fury Road."

It seems like Terry Gilliam is actually filming "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote"






















I won't go into greater detail about the bad luck and mishaps that have happened with Terry Gilliam's passion project, but, suffice to say, it seems like the supposed cursed project is finally well underway in shooting. The latest setback, star John Hurt's death, was settled with Gilliam regular Jonathan Pryce taking over the role.

IndieWire has, more or less, confirmed that production has started. Gilliam's struggles to make the film were well documented in a 2002 documentary entitled "Lost in La Mancha." Here is an excerpt from my review which basically sums up the whole shebang:

"Terry Gilliam was able to start shooting his dream project about Don Quixote  "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote," in 2000, starring Johnny Depp and, in the title role of Don Quixote, French actor Jean Rochefort. That was the only positive news that happened it seems because, due to budget problems, shooting schedule problems, horrible weather problems, and the unfortunate ill health of actor Rochefort, the production was a disaster before production even began. There were only 6 days of shooting before the entire thing was scraped and "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote" was completely abandoned."

"Lost In La Mancha," a documentary that captures the first eight weeks of pre-production (another nightmare experience for Gilliam) to the disastrous six-day shoot that followed. It is frustrating to watch because one moment we see Gilliam all giddy and ready to go, and the next minute he's having a mental breakdown over the sheer bad luck happening all around his dream project."

"A feeling of what could have been exudes throughout the picture, the terrific sets, costumes and production design that were created for the movie (including perfectly synchronized Gilliam-esque life-size marionette puppets) give out an over all feeling of what might have been. Maybe there will be a day when it can be realized, but it seems like the dark cloud looming over this picture at the moment is too compromised to just easily go away"