'Dunkirk' Is Christopher Nolan's Shortest Film Since Directorial Debut at 1 hour & 47 minutes

Yikes, what a shock. Wasn't this supposed to be this summer's epic? A WWII Christopher Nolan movie runs for just 107 minutes?  The last film Nolan directed that was under 2 hours? "Insomnia," way back in 2002. Every movie since then has been over 120 minutes or more, much more.

"In a summer chock-o-block with event films running north of two hours, Christopher Nolan's World War II action-drama Dunkirk stands apart in running approximately one hour and 47 minutes — the shortest movie of his career after his first film, Following, insiders confirm. That's 62 minutes less than Interstellar, the acclaimed director's previous movie. Interstellar, released in November 2014, was his longest film with a running time of two hours and 49 minutes."

[THR]

Daniel Day-Lewis is Officially Retiring from Acting

Well, this is shocking. According to Variety, one of the great actors of this, or any, generation, Daniel Day-Lewis has announced his retirement from the acting world.

I just received word of the press release from Daniel Day-Lewis’ spokeswoman, Leslee Dart, confirming the news:

“Daniel Day-Lewis will no longer be working as an actor. He is immensely grateful to all of his collaborators and audiences over the many years. This is a private decision and neither he nor his representatives will make any further comment on this subject. ”

Day-Lewis' final film will then be the upcoming Paul Thomas Anderson directed "Phantom Thread." 

His most iconic performances can be found in "There Will Be Blood," "Gangs of New York," "Lincoln," "My Left Foot," "In the Name of the Father," "The Crucible," and "The Unbearable Lightness of Being."

This isn't the first time 60-year-old actor has decided to step away from acting. Following 1996's "The Boxer," Day-Lewis took what he called, "a leave of absence" from acting by going into "semi-retirement" and going into woodworking. It was one of the weirder stories to emerge from Hollywood as he was a hot commodity at the time. This newfound passion in shoemaking resulted in him moving to Italy where he embarked on an apprenticeship with shoemaker extraordinaire Stefano Bemer.

Trending: Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman Paycheck Was Surprisingly Low

The gist of this latest "controversy," trending on social media, is that back in 2014, when Gadot signed her three-picture deal with Warner Bros to star as Wonder Woman,  she was going to earn $300,000 for each film – Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Wonder Woman and the upcoming "Justice League."

Here are a few talking points that I try to rebuke:

Except that she was pretty much a no-named actress before this. Nobody thought "Wonder Woman" would hit such pay dirt, but it did and she will be generously compensated for the sequel. Comparing Gadot's journey to Cavill's a little silly.  He was the lead in multiple films before "Man of Steel."  Gal Gadot had never played the lead in any English-language film before. Gadot was even contemplating quitting acting before Snyder convinced her to star in BvS.

You see, I saw "Fast & Furious," but I don't remember her AT ALL. You'd think I would, given the how beautiful and magnetic a screen presence she had in "Wonder Woman," but I just can't remember.

Ok, then why was this article even written? It's started a whole scandal on social media for absolutely nothing. You can rest assured Gadot will make a lot of money when the sequel happens.

[CBR]

An autopsy shows 'Star Wars' actress Carrie Fisher had cocaine, heroin and ecstasy in her system when she became ill on a flight last year

God damn it Carrie. Shame she fell off the wagon. She made her battles with addiction very well known to the public, so open and honest. I had always assumed she found a way to stop the itch, but, ask any addict, it's a shadowy figure that always looms large in the background whether you've stopped or not.

Of course, Leia was the beginning of a whirlwind in her life. It changed her well-being forever. You can't escape that kind of fandom. The everlasting kind. She had her issues with drugs and alcohol, but it never seemed to stop her from standing back up and fighting some more, showing her true strengths as an irredeemable force of nature. She took turns being on and off the bandwagon, that's the sad truth about many addicts and she was never shy about her battle with addiction.

"Carrie Fisher’s autopsy report shows the actress had cocaine in her system when she fell ill on a plane last year, but investigators could not determine what impact the cocaine and other drugs found in her system had on her death. The report released Monday states Fisher may have taken cocaine three days before the Dec. 23 flight on which she became ill. She died four days later. It also found traces of heroin, other opiates and MDMA, which is also known as ecstasy, but that they could not determine when Fisher had taken those drugs. The findings were based on toxicology screenings done on samples taken when the “Star Wars” actress arrived at a Los Angeles hospital."

[Associated Press]

Box Office Week: Cars 3 takes #1 with underwhelming $53.5M, All Eyez on Me opens stronger than expected at #3 with $27M, 47 Meters Down opens well at #5 with $11.5M, Rough Night flops at #7 with $8M, and finally Wonder Woman drops only 30% for third weekend with $40.7M, passing $500M worldwide.

In case you've been living under a rock for the whole month of June, "Wonder Woman" has, so far, been the most talked about movie this summer. Its three-week domestic total is almost $300 Million. The importance is immense for the future of female-directed blockbusters, not mention with the addition of a female lead. 

Patty Jenkins' film finished second at the box-office, only eclipsed by franchise juggernaut "Cars 3" which raked in a disappointing $53.5M, the weakest opener of the franchise thus far. I haven't seen the film, I skipped last week's press screening. and doubt I will all due in part to "Cars 2" being the absolute worst Pixar I have ever seen. Pixar all but jumped the shark with this franchise, I look more forward to their other project, "Coco," being released this fall. 

The juicier news though is the fact that we can add a few more titles to the 'Summer box-office bombs bucket' as Sony's tame, middling "Rought Night," starring ScarJo, made a limp showing in its first weekend with an estimated $8.5M, yikes. 

However, the 2Pac bio-pic "All Eyez On Me" seems to have benefitted from not screening for critics as it amassed an impressive $27M which was enough to land it steadily in third place. What does this mean exactly? Well, a few things. Firstly, there is a large market for hip-hop driven biopics, just look at the success of "Straight Outta Compton," but, more importantly, Lionsgate's decision to not screen the movie for critics, something Sony and other studios have been tempted to do due in part to bad reviews and an ugly-looking RottenTomatoes score, was successful and could lead other studios to follow suit. Let's see if others will follow suit in the coming weeks.

[Box Office Mojo]

'The Book of Henry' confirms our worst fears, Collin Trevorrow should NOT be directing Episode IX

I've been asking the same question for months now: Why did Disney hire Collin Trevorrow to direct Episode IX? Ok fine, his small-scaled indie "Safety Not Guaranteed" had enough wit and charm to bypass its ludicrous story, but then he hit pay dirt by directing "Jurassic World," which all but cleaned up at the summer box-office in 2015 to become the fourth highest-grossing movie of all-time, DESPITE the mixed reviews it received. 

Episode IX's original director, Josh Trank, had a nightmare scenario come to fruition when "Fantastic Four" was met with the nastiest of reviews and a stale box-office, even worse Trank's on-set reputation and the tantrums he was throwing sealed the deal for Disney, they fired him and replaced him with Trevorrow. 

Lo and behold how the tide turns, Trevorrow is now coming off his own nightmare, "The Book of Henry." I decided to catch a press screening of the film earlier this week because, well, I wanted to see some of Trevorrow's chops before the "Star Wars" storm hits next year. What I didn't expect was the worst movie of the year, which, as it stands now, "The Book of Henry" most definitely is. A sentimental, misguided, confused and jumbled mess of a movie. A horrid mix of genres that never adds up. 

What does all of this prove? That Trevorrow is not the man for the job. He was given an incredibly important assignment in closing the latest SW trilogy, but I don't believe he will be up to the task or has it in him to deliver the goods. There are far worthier filmmakers out there to carry this multi-billion dollar franchise that doesn't have the risk or baggage of Trevorrow. It's not fun for me to write this because I'm sure he's a decent guy, but when you are given the task to please one of the largest and most faithful fan bases in movie history then, I'm sorry, there's just no time to kid around here. It's the closing chapter of the saga. A film that leaves fans with too bitter a taste would be disastrous for Disney.

"Star Wars" fans buckle your seat belts, the next few months might be a very bumpy ride because there will be no end to the rumors that Trevorrow will be fired from the Episode IX director's chair. If Disney is sticking with their man they will have to publicly back him up, then we can shake off the rumors and hope for the best with Trevorrow's final product. In the meantime, we have speculation and Trevorrow tweeting the saddest of tweets yesterday:

Episode VIII is due for release on December 15, 2017. Episode IX due for release on June 21, 2019

Edgar Wright’s 40 Favorite Movies Ever Made

[Link]

Mark Hamill Clarifies His 'Star Wars 8' Criticisms

Mark Hamill has, more or less, cleared up the rumored differences that people thought he and "The Last Jedi" director Rian Johnson had about the "direction" Luke Skywalker is about to take in Episode 8. Which has us all curious about what the, hushed up, actual direction is. The long-standing rumors that Luke would go to the dark side, and that Rey is his daughter, have never been confirmed as being accurate, but isn't this all part of the fun? We're anticipating this film very much in the same way folks probably anticipated "The Empire Strikes Back" in 1980. I mean, Rian Johnson is probably the most talented filmmaker to ever helm a "Star Wars" movie, no offense to Lucas or Abrams, and after "Looper" he became one of the hottest, most sought after directors in Hollywood. He could have done whatever he wanted, whatever artistic statement he chose to make, but he decided to fulfill a childhood dream and make a "Star Wars" movie, now how cool is that?

He tells Variety:

"I was quoted as saying to Rian that I fundamentally disagree with everything you decided about Luke, and it was inartfully phrased. What I was, was surprised at how he saw Luke. And it took me a while to get around to his way of thinking, but once I was there it was a thrilling experience. I hope it will be for the audience too."

'Dunkirk' IMAX Poster

'Daddy's Home 2' is actually happening

Every once in a while a comedian that you thought was past his heyday, Adam Sandler, Ben Stiller, Seth Rogen, gives us a gem that is overlooked by most audiences and critics, mostly in due part to the fact that the mainstream has given up on the actor's ability to, you know, make us laugh. It happened with Sandler on "That's My Boy," a film that I've touted over and over here as an under appreciated film, and it definitely happened with Will Ferrel when he released "Daddy's Home" a few years ago. 

This is Will Ferrel after all, sophisticated comedy it is not, but Wahlberg and Ferrell have great chemistry together, watch "The Other Guys," and have lots of fun playing off each other's personas. It's outrageously dumb, but sometimes checking your brain at the door when watching a movie can make a for an entertaining time. I'd add this film just a notch below "Anchorman," "Old School," "Talladega Nights," "Step Brothers," and "Elf" in the Ferrell pantheon. 

Sofia Coppola is even a fan as she included it on her list last week alongside The New York Times 25 Best Films of the 21st Century So Far, which also had six filmmakers making their own lists. Talking to Vulture, she elaborated that:

“Well, [my children] have such bad taste in the movies they want to watch. [Laughs.] I was always exposed to such good films growing up, so I try to show those to them, but if anything’s old, they don’t want to see it,” she said. “It’s always a struggle to find a movie that we all enjoy, but they were cracking up watching ‘Daddy’s Home,’ so that made it fun.”

With all that being said, this new trailer makes the sequel look pretty awful. 

“Daddy’s Home 2” opens on November 10th.

Not a fan

James Gunn Confirms 'Scooby-Doo' Was Originally Given an R-Rating

If ever a film needed an unrated Director's Cut....

James Gunn might be known as the genius behind "Guardians of the Galaxy," but Gunn has, more or less, tried to erase his past as a screenwriter of lackluster Hollywood films. Sure, he wrote top-tier stuff like "Dawn of the Dead," "Slither" and "Guardians of the Galaxy, but, before that, there was " Tromeo and Juliet (1996), Scooby-Doo (2002) and its sequel Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004). He has never really spoken about them until now.

Lo and behold a Facebook post from Gunn this evening about the 20th anniversary of his "beloved" Scooby-Doo. It really is a heartfelt message, but the niftiest surprise is the revelation that the original cut was rated R!

More of his post can be found here: [Facebook]

Why is Kathryn Bigelow's "Detroit" being released in August? We don't really know.

The new trailer for Kathryn Bigelow's new film, "Detroit," is exactly what you expect. Tense, taut, terrific stuff. However, there still hasn't really been an answer as to why Annapurna is releasing this film in early August, a very un-Oscar release date for a film. In fact, based on my own frustrating research, there hasn't been a Best Picture Oscar winner released in August since Clint Eastwood's "Unforgiven" was released more than 25 years ago on August 3rd, 1992.

The eagerly anticipated follow-up to Bigelow’s “The Hurt Locker” and “Zero Dark Thirty” is probably the movie I'm looking forward to most this summer movie season, alongside Christopher Nolan’s "Dunkirk." It has a late summer release which has Oscar pundits scratching their heads. The film is likely to stir conversation and it’s always better to get that all over with before the more brutal Oscar season starts. Many films are simply chewed up and spit out for even daring to “go there” – so an earlier release date does two things: takes the Oscar heat off a bit, and gives people time to get it all out of their system before fall. "Zero Dark Thirty" came out way too late and by the time its absurd backlash died down it was long past too late.  

Nevertheless, it is a little odd to have this on August 4th, the last time a film won Best Picture and was released before Septemeber, you would have to go back to June of 2009 when Bigelow's own "The Hurt Locker" finally had its release. Why do I say "finally"? Because it had premiered almost a full year before that in September of 2008 at the Toronto International Film Festival. An oddity to say the least. 

Mark Boal, who penned Bigelow's previous two efforts, has written the screenplay for "Detroit" which details the 1967 Detroit race riots, one of the biggest citizen uprisings in U.S. history.  Bigelow is at her best dealing with scenes of war, the violence on the streets in "Detroit" is, to say the least, not a change of pace from The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty's American wars.

Want to know why 'Wonder Woman' is such an important movie? Disney Rejection Letter to a Woman, 1938

[Think Progress]

Best Movies Of the 21st Century?

There have been many "Best movies of the 21st century" lists happening ever since The New York Times decided to reveal theirs last week. I'm not going to comment on the list Manhola Dargis and A.O. Scott compiled for NYT in their assessment of the best films of the 21st Century [HERE]. I especially dig Villeneuve's list, any of those would make my own. All are passable to great movies, but it's not really an ideal list that aligns with my own tastes. 

Last year the BBC polled hundreds of film critics, scholars, writers, journalists etc. and asked the same question. The results from that poll were a little more to my liking. It's been 17 years since the start of the new century and we've had plenty of great films. If I had to pick these would be on it:

(1) "Mulholland Drive," Dir. David Lynch
(2) "Tree of Life," Dir. Terrence Malick

(3) "There Will Be Blood," Dir. Paul Thomas Anderson

(4) "Spirited Away," Dir. Hayao Miyazaki
(5) "Children of Men," Dir. Alfonso Cuaron
(6) "No Country For Old Men," Dir. Joel Coen
(7) "Zodiac," Dir. David Fincher
(8) "Margaret," Dir. Kenneth Lonergan
(9) "A Separation," Dir. Asghar Farhadi

(10) "Inside Llewyn Davis," Dir. Joel Coen

(11) "Cache/Hidden," Dir. Michae Haneke

(12) "The Master," Dir. Paul Thomas Anderson

(13) "Holy Motors," Dir. Leos Carax

(14) "Dogtooth," Dir. Yorgos Lanthimos

(15) "Son of Saul," Dir. Lazlo Nemes
(16) "Upstream Color," Dir. Shane Carruth
(17) "Memento," Dir. Christopher Nolan
(18) "Lost in Translation," Sofia Coppola

(19) "The Social Network," Dir. David Fincher

(20) "Whiplash," Dir. Damien Chazelle

(21) "12 Years A Slave," Dir. Steve McQueen

(22) "Dancer in the Dark," Dir. Lars Von Trier
(23) "Oldboy," Dir. Park Chan-Wook
(24) "WALL-E," Dir. Andrew Stanton
(25) "The 25th Hour," Dir. Spike Lee
(26) "The Lord of the Rings," Dir. Peter Jackson

(27) "Mad Max: Fury Road," Dir. George Miller

(28) "Uncle Boonmee," Dir. Apichatpong Weerasethakul
(29) "Pan's Labyrinth," Dir. Guillermo Del Toro
(30) "4 Month, 3 Weeks and 2 Days," Dir. Cristi Mungiu

Here is a little something I wrote on Facebook concerning Mulholland Drive:

"How about because it's the kind of film that is exactly about why we go to the movies in the first place. A dreamy, surreal, almost unexplained work of art. It intrigues you, frustrates you and passionately reaffirms your undying love for the movies. David Lynch dared us to get inside his bag of magic tricks and the epiphanic result felt like a religious re-awakening. In Scorsese's "Hugo" George Melies says concerning the cinema: "If you've ever wondered where your dreams come from, look around this is where they're made. Come and dream with me." Lynch invited us to dream with him as well back in 2001 and we haven't been able to shake it ever since.

Joel Schumacher apologizes for "Batman & Robin"

I grew up watching Tim Burton's first two Batman movies. Obsessed, I was continuously rewatching them. My fandom stopped once "Batman Forever" happened, but even more so "Batman & Robin," the latter of which was met with a resounding "WTF?" by audiences worldwide. I mean, it's one thing changing Tim Burton for Joel Schumacher as the director, but replacing Michael Keaton with Val Kilmer, and then George Clooney, as Batman was the final straw for me. I wouldn't be a fan again until Christopher Nolan took over in 2005 with his masterful trilogy of films. Schumacher's films left a very bitter taste in my mouth and the director has refrained from talking about it until ... now.

Schumacher spoke to Vice, in what seemed to be a very therapeutic interview for the director, about the catastrophe that was "Batman & Robin." In fact, he actually apologizes for the movie. It certainly did damage his career, he was once a much sought after filmmaker that had a streak of box-office hits (St. Elmo's Fire, A Time to Kill, The Client, Falling Down, The Lost Boys). I do appreciate what he did with in 2002 with "Phone Booth," but, other than that Collin Farrel starring flick, the last 20 years have been grim for Schumacher.

The whole Vice interview is fascinating stuff, click on the link below, but the quote that will stir up talk is when, at some point, he says this:

"And then after Batman & Robin, I was scum. It was like I had murdered a baby ... Look, I apologize,I want to apologize to every fan that was disappointed because I think I owe them that."

[Vice]

"Brigsby Bear" Trailer Is Released

Excerpt from my REVIEW for We Got This Covered:

"Although the film flies off the rails in its climax, the rest of Brigsby Bear is an outrageous concept that’s pulled off quite well. McCary, an SNL writer and director, shows great promise and satirical sting with his directing chops, managing to create something wholly unique and original here. You ain’t seen nothing like it, and probably never will again."

Official Synopsis:

Brigsby Bear Adventures is a children’s TV show produced for an audience of one: James (Kyle Mooney). When the show abruptly ends, James’s life changes forever, he sets out to finish the story himself and must learn to cope with the realities of a new world that he knows nothing about.

The film opens in limited release on July 28th 

Mark Hamill: Superhero movie "oversaturation" happening

“I don’t know what’s going on with superhero movies. They’re fantastic, but I think we’re reaching a point of oversaturation. So that’s why the story is so important, is that the gimmicks and all that, they can only take you so far. That’s what I want, better stories.” 

[USA Today]

Fox Study on Rotten Tomatoes and Millennials: “Consider Not Giving The Critics A Chance To Slam You”

According to Vanity Fair  20th Century Fox had organzied a study entitled “Rotten Tomatoes and Box Office,” which all, but predicted what is happening right now with millennials embracing the aggregate movie web site when it came to choosing which movies to buy tickets to.

“The power of Rotten Tomatoes and fast-breaking word of mouth will only get stronger. Many Millennials and even Gen Xers now vet every single purchase through the internet, whether it’s restaurants, video games, make-up, consumer electronics, or movies. As they get older and comprise an even larger share of total moviegoers, this behavior is unlikely to change.”

“Consider not giving the critics a chance to slam you. While it’s never a great feeling to withhold from critics, now it may help to at least preserve your Friday.” 

I've made a habit of looking at their Average Rating on RT as well.

I wrote this last week about Hollywood's war against RT:

"Oh, give me a break. You really think we wanted a fifth "Pirates" movie? Who's the brainiac that greenlit the damn thing? How about making a movie out of a show, "Baywatch," that was mocked at when it aired back in the '90s and was only watched by pervs that wanted to catch female beach bods in action (pre-Porn era)? Yes, we might be living in a culture where film aggregates are becoming important to a film's success and know what? I'm glad we are. Didn't we all wish in the '90s and '00s to live in a time when the good movies made money and the bad ones tanked? Well, this is the time folks. Bet big on "Baby Driver" doing well in late June, ditto "Dunkirk," "The Beguiled" and "Detroit." Why? The film community will be supporting these artistic statements and millennials will listen. The cinematic experience is becoming too expensive, people are becoming pickier and relying more on Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic to make their decisions on a Saturday night. This is my message to studios if they want box-office success: How about you just make a good movie."

Richard Linklater's "Last Flag Flying" to open NYFF

Richard Linklater's last four triumphs: "Bernie," "Before Midnight," "Boyhood," and "Everybody Wants Some" have me revved up for "Last Flag Flying." This is supposed to be a spiritual successor to 1973's masterful "The Last Detail," which featured one of Jack Nicholson's very best performances.

Linklater has been a peculiar kind of director, a humanist that has kept reinventing himself throughout the last 25 years. "Last Flag Flying" will also be opening the New York Film Festival in October. There is no release date as of yet, but if the reviews are glowing you bet this will be released in the fall for awards season.

Official Synopsis:

"In Richard Linklater’s lyrical road movie, as funny as it is heartbreaking, three aging Vietnam-era Navy vets—soft-spoken Doc (Steve Carell), unhinged and unfiltered Sal (Bryan Cranston), and quietly measured Mueller (Laurence Fishburne)—reunite to perform a sacred task: the proper burial of Doc’s only child, who has been killed in the early days of the Iraqi Invasion. As this trio of old friends makes its way up the Eastern seaboard, Linklater gives us a rich rendering of friendship, a grand mosaic of common life in the USA during the Bush era, and a striking meditation on the passage of time and the nature of truth. To put it simply, Last Flag Flying is a great movie from one of America’s finest filmmakers."

The New York Film Festival runs from September 28th to October 15th. 

“Last Flag Flying” will be released in cinemas by Amazon.