Marlene Dietrich's 1929 screen test for 'The Blue Angel'



In 1929, director Josef von Sternberg was putting together the cast for what would be the first major German motion picture in sound: "The Blue Angel." It starred then unknown actress Marlene Dietrich as Lola-Lola, a sex symbol playing at the local cabaret. Lola-Lola was, it has been said, a "liberated woman of the world who chose her men, earned her own living and viewed sex as a challenge." To say movie audiences were captivated would be an understatement, Dietrich became a global phenomenon because of the film, which had been simultaneously filmed in both German and English.
Above, is a video Dietrich's screen test for the film, discovered in 1992 at a Viennese film archive, legendary for the way she ends up throwing three temper tantrums, including giving the poor piano player an earful (essentially saying, "How the hell can I sing through this garbage with you playing like that?"). Then she works her way through "Why Cry at Parting?" and climbs on that piano, cigarette no longer in hand, and puts on a show...

 As The New York Times puts it "Von Sternberg's heart must have jumped or stopped," he continued. "I think he knew that this was the discovery of a lifetime."

 The screen test, which occurred in Berlin, happened in 1929. It was setup when Von Sternberg saw Dietrich in a hit stage production and decided on the spot that he wanted her for the part of Lola Lola.  "The test had been made as a courtesy for Paramount Pictures, although Dietrich herself did not know she had already been chosen for the part."

 [NYT]

Colin Trevorrow, yet again, Defends himself over the 'Star Wars: Episode IX' Directing Job After 'Book of Henry' Debacle



Colin Trevorrow is coming off his own worst nightmare: "The Book of Henry." I decided to catch a press screening of the film earlier last month 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. "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 disruptors claiming that Trevorrow is not suited for Episode IX's director chair. 

 He, yet again, had to defend himself in yesterday at a film festival:

"Not only did I grow up on these stories, like all of us did, [but] I think that the values of Star Wars are values that I hold very close and very dear in my life ... I feel that the message of the way that the Force teaches you to treat other people and show respect for others, and the way it guides you through life is really important to me. And I hope everybody would realize that that set of stories has affected me as deeply in my life as it has affected them."

  “I think the challenge for me is to recognize that everyone has their own personal relationship with these stories, and it’s different depending on who you are ... And I need to make a film that you’ll appreciate even if your experience with it was different, which is making something that will be deeply emotionally resonant and satisfying for people all around the world. And I think about it a lot."

 Ok, let's see what you got then Colin. In all honesty, Disney can probably make any sub-par filmmaker look competent enough. These movies are, after all, creatively controlled by them so the scope is very limited in how Colin could frankly fuck this up. Sure, it's a little different with Rian Johnson as he has had a considerable impact on the creative process with Disney, but Colin not as important. We do know he's on a tight leash so he will likely adhere to whatever Disney tells him to do.

 [THR]

After 648 votes, IMDB's rating of Dunkirk is 9.9


And so it begins. The hyperbole. I'm perfectly fine with 'Dunkirk' being a great movie and that's what most of the tweet reactions seem to be implying at the moment (more of that below). It has a 9.9 rating based on 648 votes so far on IMDB and there have been quite a few screenings in L.A, London, New York etc. to justify people having actually seen it. This no doubt is a sign of things to come for the film on IMDB as all of Nolan's films have more or less been overpraised on the online movie database.



We've also been waiting on legit people to weigh in on "Dunkirk," because what we've so far gathered in terms of reactions have been fanboys that were part of junkets. There was a screening this morning for Oscar pundits in L.A. which was a resounding success. These tweets are almost too good to be true.

DiCaprio, De Niro & Scorsese May Shoot "Killers of the Flower Moon" Next Year



I don't know what's changed with De Niro the last year or so, but, after more than 20 years not working with Scorsese, he now has two projects lined up with his legendary collaborating director. You don't see me complaining here. There's already "The Irishman" happening next month and now we're getting the word that an adaptation of David Grann's book "Killers of the Flower Moon" is also likely happening with Leonard Dicaprio tagging along for the ride. Dicaprio has basically become Scorsese's millennial De Niro (Gangs of New York, The Aviator, The Departed, Shutter Island, The Wolf of Wall Street) so it'll be great to see both actors join ranks.

The book's rights were obtained last year for $5 Million, after a nasty bidding war, and now the Eric Roth-penned film adaptation has a tentative shooting date.

"Scorsese’s longtime production designer, Dante Ferretti, told Variety that Scorsese hoped to start shooting “Flower Moon” in the spring of next year."

Based on David Grann’s book "Killers Of The Flower Moon: The Osage Murders And The Birth Of The FBI" the plot reads like a cinematic-opening flower of the highest order "The story, set in the 1920s, focuses on a string of murders of members of the Osage nation in Oklahoma after oil was discovered beneath their land. The chilling series of slayings was one of the fledgling FBI’s first major homicide investigations."

Scorsese shows no signs of slowing down, despite being 74, he knows he won't forever have the endurance in him to direct on a regular basis so it's very predictable that he'd like to make as many movies as possible when he still can afford to, the labors of production on a film tend to be arduous, but it's great to see his next two movies might be the most anticipated of his career.

With "Devil in the White City" also looking like a somewhat sure-thing after "The Irishman" and "Killers of the Flower Moon," we're looking at a Martin Scorsese movie being released in 2018, 2019 and 2020.

Rian Johnson and Edgar Wright praise 'Dunkirk' as an 'All-Timer' on Twitter




You don't know how great it is to read the positive tweets about "Dunkirk" the last week or so, mostly from fanboys, bloggers and filmmakers, but, still, that's better than nothing. I'm catching a screening next Monday and so will most of the big American city critics. Expect plenty of reactions around 9pm Eastern Standard time, then we will really know what are its Oscar chances. 

From the tweets it does sound like the film is told from three distinct narratives and they don't happen concurrently. Meaning we'll be jumping between three timelines to tell these separate stories. Also saw one tweet complaining about the lack of character but I like the idea of Nolan just dropping us in with these soldiers and not having forced dialogue to reveal character development. It's good to hear the film isn't dialogue-heavy either, this might be the most unusully structured narrative Nolan has given us since "Memento."

Joe Wright's 'Darkest Hour' has an unrecognizable Gary Oldman going for Oscar gold



Many people are already saying the Best Actor Oscar this year will be Gary Oldman's to lose. Oldman has been around for nearly 4 decades and he has yet to have won the golden statuette. "Leon," "Dracula," "True Romance," "The Dark Knight," "JFK," "State of Grace," and, of course, "Sid and Nancy." Such a legend at his craft. Just cancel the show and give this man the Academy Award.

 Joe Wright ("Atonement," "Pride and Prejudice," "Hannah") directs and let's hope this transcends typical brit studios exports of very safe, traditional, and predictable biopics. I do like Joe Wright better than Tom Hooper, that's for sure. Anyone that can shoot that astounding Dunkirk long-take in "Atonement" is fine in my books, even if they were responsible for 'The Soloist,' remember that?

'Get Out' tops Best Movies of 2017 so far poll (according to 100+ critics)


Over the last week or so I've been collecting lists from my colleagues and industry people to find a consensus as to what have been the best films of 2017 so far according to critics. 108 critics sent me their lists. To say this was a success would be an understatement. AwardsDaily has my edited version, many paragraphs were edited down, but here's the full draft I had and I extended the list to more films:

 There was a time when film critics used to be a very unpredictable lot.

 In conducting a poll of over 100 newspaper, magazine, and online film critics, Jordan Peele's horror satire "Get Out" was the clear winner, edging out Michael Showalter's romcom "The Big Sick," Edgar Wright's car chase thriller "Baby Driver," and James Mangold's existential superhero flick "Logan" as the consensus choice for "best" film of 2017 so far.

 Named on 100 of the 111 "best of" lists, "Get Out" easily topped our poll, in which critics submitted their lists to me via email, Facebook, and Twitter, ranking their list either randomly, in alphabetical order, or in descending order. As with any such polling endeavors, there were plenty of heated opinions. Despite the sheer quantity of films released so far in the year -- estimated at more than 350 -- a core group of 10-15 films recurred on list after list. There was more agreement than disparity, especially when it came to Jordan Peele's movie. The widespread assessment was also that it's been a better than average movie year thus far, despite the reputation that most studios tend to release their weaker films in the first half of the year.

 It seems like populism has in fact reigned supreme thus far in multiplexes for the nation's film journalists. Studio efforts such as "Logan," "Get Out," "Wonder Woman," "John Wick Chapter Two," "The Lego Batman Movie," and "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2" clearly struck a chord with the journalists polled, whereas only two of the top 20 films were in a foreign language: Julie Ducourneau's cannibal coming-of-age drama "Raw" (French) and Cristi Mungiu's "Graduation" (Romanian).

 As usual, festival-going critics were adamant about mentioning some of the soon-to-be critically acclaimed movies of the fall that have already been screened at festivals, such as Cannes and Sundance. The most often mentioned were Luca Guadagnino's "Call Me by Your Name," Sean Baker's "The Florida Project," The Safdie Brothers' "Good Time," Dee Rees' "Mudbound," and Kogonada's "Columbus."

 Most were unseen by the vast majority of the critics polled, but the overall support by the dozen or so festival-goers who did mention these titles suggests that they will most likely appear on hundreds of critics' "best-of" lists by year's end. King among them was Guadagnino's coming of age masterpiece, which premiered at this past January's Sundance film festival, and which topped all 6 critics lists in which it was mentioned. “The Florida Project,” a Cannes entry, was the other highly mentioned fest title and which had CineVue’s John Bleasdale stating “I suspect this will be the year that Sean Baker breaks into the mainstream.”

 The vagaries of distribution also meant that many critics didn't get to see some of the smaller-scaled indie films that were just released, especially David Lowery's "A Ghost Story," which still managed to make more than 1/4 of the lists submitted, despite having only been released in limited distribution last Friday in L.A. and New York.

 Complicating things even more for some was the continuous blur of cinema and television. Critically acclaimed shows such as "Fargo," "Big Little Lies," and "Better Call Saul" were mentioned.

 However, no show was cited as often and with as much fervent passion as David Lynch's "Twin Peaks" reboot. The fact that only 8 of the 18 episodes have aired didn’t deter more than 8 critics from naming it as their number one “movie” of 2017.

 "Dog Eat Dog" screenwriter and director of the upcoming "Regarding the Case of Joan of Arc," Matthew Wilder, stated "Certainly the movie event thus far this year is "Twin Peaks: The Return," a masterpiece for sure in its first eight episodes and a hilarious bitch slap to both cinema and this “daring” age of television, which suddenly learned how very daring it wasn’t." DigBoston's Jake Mulligan had praise as well: "I've got no way to sum it up in a sentence. It's just sublime, and inspired, and surprising, and it's the strongest use of moving pictures I've seen all year." CinemaViewFinder's Tony Dayoub also didn't shy away, saying the first eight episodes are "better movie than anything I've seen so far in theaters." The Village Voice’s Luke Thompson added to the praises by saying “Yes, I'm gonna be "that guy" on Twin Peaks, as I suspect others might be. Like when LAFCA gave Best Picture to Brazil in order to help it actually get released, my vote for Twin Peaks is an express desire to see it all on the big screen as Lynch would prefer, but could not get the funding for. It is undoubtedly the richest, most rewarding cinematic experience of the year even on a "mere" huge-screen TV set.” And Finally, filmmaker Jonathan Caouette stated, "Lynch referred to it as an 18-hour movie. So far, I am transfixed by the first eight episodes."

 If there was a film that defied the odds and surprised in the final tally it was Nacho Vigalondo’s hard-to-define sci-fi film “Colossal,” starring Anne Hathaway and Jason Sudeikis. Even though the film has garnered a respectable 80% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 70 score on Metacritic, one didn’t expect it to figure so highly on such a poll, and yet, Vigalondo’s brilliant film managed to finish in the Top 5 and edge out Patty Jenkins’ “Wonder Woman,” which ended up nabbing sixth place.

 In all, nearly 150 films were named. Of course, the bandwagon-like appeal and lack of disparity didn't stop some critics. Now and then a critic really stuck his or her neck out, flaunting a 10 Best label on an out-of-left-field movie choice that was the whipping boy for most critics. "The Zookeeper's Wife" (named as one of the year's best by freelancer Tomris Laffy and Awards Daily’s own Jazz Tangcay); "Gifted" (Pete Hammond, Deadline); “Beauty and the Beast” (Carrie Rickey, The Philadelphia Inquirer); “Catfight” (Amy Nicholson, MTV), “Maudie” (Anne Thompson, IndieWire) and, yes, even “Transformers: The Last Knight,” which Luke Thompson suggests is shot “with the gaze of a 14-year-old and the logic of a 5-year-old,” adding that “Michael Bay directs like a kid creating an epic with toys on his bedroom floor. And since this is a movie based on toys, it's a perfect fit.”

 Although Terrence Malick's "Song to Song" was included in more than a half dozen "Worst of" lists, it did have its champions and ended up garnering just as many “best of” inclusions. The Wrap's Steve Pond stated "I kinda hated the last few Malicks, but he got me back with "Song to Song" and with the longer Cate Blanchett-narrated version of [the upcoming] "Voyage of Time" as well". The Film Stage's Jordan Raup also had eloquent words about Malick's film, saying "I absolutely adored it, I thought it was so beautiful."

Consensus Top 10
1. "Get Out" (Jordan Peele, U.S.) (103 lists)
2. "The Big Sick" (Michael Showalter, U.S.) (60)
3. "Logan" (James Mangold, U.S.) (58)
4. "Baby Driver" (Edgar Wright, U.S.) (57)
5. The Lost City of Z" (James Gray, U.S.) (48)
6. "Colossal" (Nacho Vigalondo, U.S.) (47)
7. "Wonder Woman" (Patty Jenkins, U.S.) (47)
8. "The Beguiled" (Sofia Coppola, U.S.) (38)
9. "Personal Shopper" (Olivier Assayas, France) (37)
10. "Raw" (Julie Ducourneau, France) (35)
11. "Okja" (Bong Joon-Ho, South Korea/U.S.) (37)
12. "A Ghost Story" (David Lowery, U.S.) (28)
13. "John Wick: Chapter Two" (Chad Stahelski, U.S.) (26)
14. “A Quiet Passion” (Terrence Davies, U.K.) (22)
15. “It Comes at Night” (Trey Edward Schultz, U.S.) (16)
16. “The Lego Batman Movie” (Chris McKay, U.S.) (15)
17. “Graduation” (Cristi Mungiu, Romania) (15)
18. “Don’t Feel at Home in this World Anymore” (Macon Blair, U.S.) (14)
19. "Split" (M. Night Shyamalan, U.S.) (14)
20. "After the Storm" (Hirokazu Koreeda, Japan) (15)
21. "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" (James Gun, U.S.) (13)
22. “Norman” (Joseph Cedar, U.S.) (13)
23. "T2: Trainspotting (Danny Boyle, U.K.) (11)
24. "Your Name" (Makoto Shinkai, Japan) (13)
25. "Their Finest" (Lone Scherfig, U.K.) (9)
26. "Dawson: Frozen City" (Bill Morrison, Canada) (7)


THE 100+ CRITICS POLLED

 Tim Grierson, Screen International; Ed Gonzalez, Slant; Pete Hammond, Deadline; April
Wolfe, L.A. Weekly; Scott Marks, San Diego Reader; Susan Granger, SSN Syndicate, Chris Nashawaty, Entertainment Weekly; Eliza Berman, Time; Tomris Laffy, Freelance Writer; Gene Seymour, Newsday; Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune; Allyson Johnson, The Young Folks; Drew Taylor, Movie Fone; Allison Shoemaker, Consequence of Sound; The Daily Times; Reuters; Nick Schager, Esquire; Carrie Rickey, The Philadlphia Inquirer; Erik Anderson, Awards Watch; Matt Patches, Thrillist; Kevin Laforest, Extra Beurre; Scott Mendelson, Forbes; Dana Buffa, KSDK St. Louis; Rahul Punja, Blasting News; Alissa Wilkinson, Vox; Ann Hornaday, Washington Post; Kyle Turner, Mass Appeal; Brian Tallerico, RogerEbert; David Ansen, Newsweek; Joe Stemme, Mark Johnson, Awards Circuit; Jasmine Elia, Awards Daily; Claudia Puig, LAFCA; Ethan Anderton, Slash Film; Nick Clement, Variety; Ben Pearson, Slash Film; Jack Girous, Slash Film; Richard Lawson, Vanity Fair; Amy Nicholson, MTV; Oliver Jones, Observer; Laura Clifford, Reeling Reviews; Anne Thompson, IndieWire; Kye Buchanan, Vulture; Yahoo Movies; Matt Donato, We Got This Covered; Bilge Ebiri, Village Voice; Joey Magidson, Awards Circuit; Julie Kosin, Harpers Bazaar; Christopher Bumbray, Joblo; ScreenCrush; Andrew Shearer, Online Athens; Marlowe Stern, The Daily Beast; Jonathan Caouette, Filmmaker; Edgar Wright, Filmmaker; Ben Croll, The Wrap; Pop Crush; Nathaniel Rogers, The Film Experience; Kent Turner, Film Forward; What Culture; Steve Pond, The Wrap; Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times; Peter Debruge, Variety; Jordan Raup, The Film Stage; KGMI; Hunter Heilman, Niner Times; Jeffrey Wells, Hollywood Elsewhere; Peter Travers, Rolling Stone; Kenji Fujishima, Paste; Larry Bartleet, NME; Matt Prigge, Metro US; Matt Hoffman, The Film School Rejects; Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Central; Edward Douglas, The Weekend Warrior; Brian Truitt, USA Today; Jake Mulligan, DigBoston; Rafer Guzman, Newsday; Alex Bieze, Asbury Park Press; Matthew Jacobs, The Huffington Post; Adam Clayton, Awards Circuit; Glenn Whipp, Los Angeles Times; Complex; Consequence of Sound; David Edelstein, Vulture; Angie Han, Mashable; Paste; Jason Guerrasio, Business Insider; Erik Childress, The Playlist; David Ehrenstein, L.A Weekly; Josh Brunsting, Criterion; Jon Frosch, The Hollywood Reporter; Edwin Arnaudin, Citizen-Times; Steve Erickson, Village Voice; Joana Langfield, The Movie Minute; Graham Fuller, Culture Trip; Chuck Wilson, Village Voice; Dan Sallitt, Filmmaker; Hans Morgenstern, Indie Ethos; Robert Abele, The Wrap; Luke Y. Thompson, Nerdist; Nicolas Bell, IONCINEMA; Jacob Hall, Slash Film; Jared Mobarak, Freelancer; Robert Koehler, Film Comment; Jason Shawhan, Freelancer; Michael Atkinson, Village Voice; Todd Gilchrist, Freelancer; MaryAnn Johahnson, The Flick Philosopher; Eric Henderson, Slant Magazine; Roger Moore, Movie Nation; Juan Barquin, Miami New Times; Saul Austerlitz, Five-Thirty-Eight; Robin Write, WriteOutOfLA; David Sims, Andy Hoglund, Freelance Writer; Diana Drumm

Joe Pesci un-retires and is now confirmed to join De Niro and Pacino in Scorsese's upcoming 'The Irishman'


Earlier last month it was confirmed that Martin Scorsese's much anticipated "The Irishman" would start shooting this year and that Netflix has officially greenlit the project for a tentative 2019 release. We can report, according to Deadline, that the shoot will begin next month.

Now comes the news that Scorsese's "The Irishman" has all, but finalized its casting, which is a dream who's who of Hollywood legends. It'll be a reunion of sorts for Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro, one of the great actor/director partnerships in cinematic history, whom haven't made a film together since 1995's "Casino." If that isn't enough to wet your appetites, Joe Pesci, Harvey Keitel and Al Pacino are all taking part as well.

 Wait, did he just say Joe Pesci? Yes, I did.  De Niro has been saying for months now that he's been trying to convince the retired Pesci to come back for "The Irishman." Rumor has it that De Niro was calling Pesci non-stop on the phone, but that the actor didn't seem interested. De Niro's relentless pursuit of Pesci seems to have finally worked. 

Deadline:

"Pesci’s involvement comes after the actor said no multiple times (some say about 50); a deal was just sealed this week. He will portray Russell Bufalino, a Mafia boss out of PA and has been long suspected of having a hand in the disappearance of Hoffa. Pesci and Scorsese have done three films together."
"The Irishman will mark the first time that Pacino and Scorsese will have worked together and the first time all the Italian greats are on the big screen together. The film starts shooting next month in and around New York and will continue through December."
"Producers of The Irishman are De Niro, Fabrica’s Gaston Pavlovich, Jane Rosenthal, Scorcese, Randall Emmett and Emma Tillinger Koskoff. Also on board: Scorsese’s longtime collaborators Ellen Lewis (casting director) and Thelma Schoonmaker (editor). The film is expected to get a small theatrical release to qualify for Oscar."
Steve Zaillian (“Gangs Of New York,” “Schindler’s List,” “Moneyball,“ “The Night Of“), is helming the screenplay for this one, which is based on the book “I Heard You Paint Houses” by Charles Brandt. Zaillian is a hot commodity these days after writing and directing the best TV series of 2016, HBO's brilliant dissection of the justice system "The Night Of."

Official Synopsis:

 "The Irishman"  tells the story of Frank “The Irishman” Sheeran — a hitman tied to the Bufalino crime family that was a high ranking officer in the international brotherhood of teamsters, was tied to a possible plot in the JFK assassination and who claimed, on his deathbed, to have murdered Teamster leader and iconic cold case Jimmy Hoffa.

Christopher Nolan is a huge 'MacGruber' fan, do you blame him?


Count me in as someone that likes the fact that Christopher Nolan, a man known for his self-seriousness, is a fan of the hilariously stupid "MacGruber." Nolan recently told Business Insider “I’ve been outed in the past as a ‘MacGruber‘ fan and I have to say there are a couple of moments in that film that had [me] howling uncontrollably.” 

 I feel you Chris, that film is the bee's kness. When asked which scenes in particular tickle him he responded by saying “[Laughs] I’m not going to go any further!” Because, well, most of the laughs in "MacGruber" come from political incorrectness. They leave you with an uneasy feeling of "Why am I laughing uncontrollably at this?"

 Nolan saying he's been "outed" as a MacGruber fan probably stems from Anne Hathaway mentioning his penchant for quoting lines on the set of The Dark Knight Rises" [TV appearance.]  "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" director Rian Johnson is also a fan, having mentioned in his "Looper" commentary track that he stole a gag from "the rather wonderful and under-rated Saturday Night Live spin-off MacGruber." 

SNL movies don't usually catch my fancy, but "MacGruber" is hilarious and a scene, among many others, where Will Forte is begging, pleading, to put together another team always kills me with laughter. Based off an SNL skit the film used cheap special effects and self-referential comedy in its attempt to construct some kind of coherent plot, all for the sake of making us laugh. That's MacGruber for you in a nutshell, a nothing burger that has you laughing until it hurts.

Is this movie seriously happening? Whoopi Goldberg and Charlie Sheen starring "9/11" will be released this September



There's no hiding the fact that Charlie Sheen was, maybe still is, a conspiracy-chasing loon that believed "9/11" was an inside job. He hasn't been shy about it either saying publicly "The 9/11 story is a fraud," among many other things. So, it's quite surprising to find him starring in an upcoming fall movie about the tragedy. 

 "9/11" is set for release this September 8th and will be distributed by Atlas. It is based on Patrick Carson's stage play "Elevator," they should have probably kept that title, and is being geared up with the tagline "The world watched it, we lived it." Yikes.

 According to EW: "The film recreates actual events adapted from voicemail messages left by victims. The story follows five people trapped in an elevator inside the World Trade Center’s North Tower. The group works together to find hope amid seemingly inescapable circumstances."

 Martin Guigui directs and one look at his filmography tells you everything you need to know about the man. 

 Courtesy of Metacritic:


Whoopi Goldberg, Luis Guzman, Gina Gershon and Jacqueline Bisset complete the main cast. What could possibly go wrong?

'The Shallows' Director Jaume Collet-Sera Frontrunner To Helm 'Suicide Squad 2'

Image result for suicide squad 2018 600x200
Really Warner Bros? Is this the best you have? Does anybody remember a time when George Miller was supposed to direct?
"Suicide Squad" was seen as another nail in the coffin for DC universe, but Zack Snyder wasn't the director scapegoated this time around, no, David Ayer was the culprit. I loved what Ayer did with the WW2 Brad Pitt flick "Fury." He's not a bad director, he just had no creative freedom.  There were reports of ongoing friction between Ayer and Warner Bros over final cut. Are we surprised? Of course not. Ayer wanted a finished project that was going to be an R rating, what "Suicide Squad" deserved, but Warner Bros. decided on a PG-13 rating. We all wanted an R. Will it happen with the sequel? Doubt it, especially now that my personal choice Mel Gibson seems to not be in the running anymore.

The most mentioned director to take over the sequel was Mel Gibson, whom, according to Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, was in talks to direct "Suicide Squad 2." Now it seems like Warner Bros. has decided to lay the fate of the movie on "The Shallows" director Jaume Collet-Serra. They probably wanted a director they could control, that wouldn't give them any grievances if they told him to "change this" or "change that." They probably remember what happened with Ayer and it would have probably happened with Gibson as well if they attempted creative control under his watch. With Collet-Serra you're not going to have that. He'll abide.
"EXCLUSIVE: The Shallows Jaume Collet-Serra has emerged as frontrunner choice to direct Suicide Squad 2, the next installment of the 2016 Warner Bros DC film that grossed $745 million worldwide. The studio looked at a number of filmmakers — Mel Gibson among them — but sources said the studio is focused on Collet-Serra to take the reins of a franchise that has Will Smith, Margot Robbie back in the ensemble. The original, written and directed by David Ayer, was about a group of incorrigible jailbirds with special skills who were conscripted to fight terrible villains with the idea the heroes were expendable. The first film wasn’t a favorite of the fanboy crowd, but it a big global financial hit for the studio that left no doubt of future installments."

Quentin Tarantino's New Movie Will Tackle the Charles Manson Murders, Brad Pitt and Jennifer Lawrence Could Star

Image result for tarantino 600x200
Love him or hate him, you can’t deny the impact Quentin Tarantino has had on film culture over the last 25 years.  It is, however, quite impressive how his brand of filmmaking has transferred to the mainstream and actually makes money. Even when "Pulp Fiction" came out in 1994, nobody would have thought Tarantino would release a film 15 years later that would amass $320 million in worldwide box office receipts (that would be "Inglourious Basterds"). His last film, the highly underrated "Hateful Eight," was deemed a box-office "failure" and was met with mixed reviews. I loved it. It harkened back to some of the talkier fare he would deliver back in the '90s. 

 Tarantino has had a few screenplays finished up, but he never fully commits to anything until he is sure it's his next project. Well, two years after "Eight" was released, we finally know what QT is doing next. THR is reporting that he will be writing and directing a film about the Charles Manson murders, but, more intriguingly, Sharon Tate's story. Tate was dating Roman Polanski at the time of her morose death and that tragedy has spanned the decades since as the stuff of Hollywood legend. Will QT be giving us a more serious affair by tackling this story or is he going to go for the same over-the-top style (Django, Basterds, Kill Bill) of his last few films? Some are hinting that Rob Zombie and "The Devil's Rejects" has been a serious inspiration for the screenplay,  I can see that kind of movie happening here, but you never know what's going on in that brilliantly twisted mind of his. 

 "The project, whose title is unknown, was written by Tarantino who would also direct. Harvey and Bob Weinstein, who have produced and exec produced the previous Tarantino films, are involved, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter."
"Sources say that Tarantino is putting the finishing touches on the script and that Brad Pitt, who worked with the filmmaker on Basterds, and Jennifer Lawrence have been approached. Studios could receive the package after Labor Day, according to one source. The plan is to shoot in 2018, possibly in the summer."
"Script details are fuzzy but one of the story's centers is on Sharon Tate, the actress and wife of director Roman Polanski who was murdered by Manson and his followers in 1969."
More from The Hollywood Reporter story HERE