Trailer for Jeremy Saulnier's ‘Hold the Dark'

If you haven't seen Jeremy Saulnier's other films then you really should. He's one of the very best up and coming American directors. 2014's "Blue Ruin" is a crime masterpiece and 2016's "Green Room" was such a dark and nasty neo-Nazi revenge thriller, it almost felt like an avant-garde horror movie.

Saulnier has now decided to team-up with Netflix for his next movie "Hold the Dark."

This latest venture into hell from Saulnier follows a wolf expert that travels to an Alaskan villageto investigate the disappearances of three children, who may or may not have been killed by wolves.

“This film has so many firsts for me,” Saulnier said (via EMPIRE). “It has my record number of intimate dialogue scenes and my highest body count. It has my first war scene, my first aerial sequence, my first time working extensively with animals. So in that regard it was a huge challenge.

"Hold the Dark" will have its Netflix premiere on September 28th

First Image of Nicole Kidman as LAPD Cop Erin Bell in Karyn Kusama’s 'Destroyer'

Danny Boyle Exits Bond 25 Over 'Creative Differences'

The 25th entry in the James Bond series will be released next year. Christopher Nolan axed the idea to direct. Ditto Denis Villeneuve who will be working on "Dune" for the next few years, there were other candidates but the name that always kept popping up was Danny Boyle's ("Slumdog Millionaire," "Trainspotting," "127 Hours," "28 Days Later").  

I found it rather strange that Boyle would even think about it, especially after he gave these comments about directing a Bond in 2013:

[Bonds are] not really for me." the director quibble " The budgets are too big.  I’m better working at a lower level of money really because I like that discipline of not having enough money to pull off whatever it is you want to pull off.  So I wouldn’t be the best person to do those. "

The rumors ended up being true, Boyle signed on for Bond 25. However, today comes the news that he's left the project due to 'creative differences.'

The statement released on Twitter read “Michael G. Wilson, Barbara Broccoli and Daniel Craig today announced that due to creative differences Danny Boyle has decided to no longer direct ‘Bond 25.'” 

I'm thinking Bond dodged a bullet there. For all the great movies Boyle has given us over the years, he was just not a good fit for this. I would rather he goes back to making more personal cinema.

“James Bond 25,” opens on November 8, 2019. 

James Gunn directed a ‘Secret Horror Movie' starring Elizabeth Banks, which will be released this November

Sony are moving forward James Gunn's about-to-be-released 'secret' horror project. The film has no title and no trailer to its name, let alone any plot synopsis. 

However, Screen Rant has made it official that Gunn's horror/thriller will be released on November 30th release via Screen Gems. We can confirm that part of the cast will include Elizabeth Banks, Jackson Dunn, David Denman, and Matt Jones as well as filmmaker David Yarovesky,all of which were hash-tagged, this past April, #SpecialSecretHorrorProject.” 

View this post on Instagram

#SDCC.

A post shared by James Gunn (@jamesgunn) on Jul 17, 2018 at 10:04am PDT

Did Asia Argento just throw the late Anthony Bourdain under the bus?

I have always been told, by more than a few friends and acquaintances from Italy, that Italians don't really like Asia Argento. She's a 'national disgrace' according to a friend. Of course, based on my experiences, Italians tend to quite lovingly over-exaggerate with these sort of things, but it does look like Asia is this catholic-driven country's idea of 'trailer trash,' someone that has gone rogue if you will. Against the values of its religious morals. Again, all this according to mi amigos Italiano. 

Argento's track record, before she emerged in the whole Weinstein controversy, was rather eventful. Daughter of legendary 'Suspiria' director Dario Argento, Asia is quite the fearless character, it just looks like she's the kind of person that would never backed down from a fight. She tells it like it is, is a very sexually open individual, but is also someone that is clearly frustrated by her native country's dismissal of her 'public behavior.'  

So Asia has a lot of baggage, fine, and I really do believe her claims that Harvey Weinstein forced himself onto her. I also love the way she has lead the way with the #MeToo movement. However, with all that being said, yesterday’s revelation that she allegedly sexually assaulted a young actor came to be a very serious blow on the actress' credibility as a leader of the women's movement. Even worse, instead of apologizing, Asia released a statement today denying the allegations ever happened.

“I strongly deny and oppose the contents of the New York Times article…” Argento said in a statement sent to the NYT.

However, this is where it gets interesting. Argento's next comments hint a her possibly throwing her own deceased husband Anthony Bourdain under the bus with a statement that merits more than a few thoughts and ponder-some endeavors.

Argento indicates that the young boy she had supposedly assaulted, Jimmy Bennett, had blackmailed her for an act that supposedly never took place, all this because he had found out that the actress was dating Anthony Bourdain? What!? 

“[Anthony] insisted that the matter be handled privately and this was also what Bennett wanted. Anthony was afraid of the possible negative publicity that such person, whom he considered dangerous, could have brought upon us,” the statement reads. “We decided to deal compassionately with Bennett’s demand for help and give it to him.”

She continues, “Anthony personally undertook to help Bennett economically, upon the condition that we would no longer suffer any further intrusions in our life.”

Charles Barfield over at The Playlist has an interesting take on Argento's statement:

"While there is no ambiguity with her statement, there are still questions that Argento failed to answer. The NYT piece claims that the outlet has copies of pictures showing both Bennett and the actress in bed. Plus, they claim to have confirmed from multiple sources that the documents possessed are real, including the quotes from Argento’s lawyer confirming the incident took place. None of these issues are addressed in the statement."

'The Last Jedi' actress Kelly Marie Tran says racism from fans led to the deletion of her Instagram account

"The Last Jedi" and its deviation from the original spirit of the Star Wars characters, especially Luke, rubbed many hardcores the wrong way. Others were complaining about how the new characters were mostly female, nothing wrong with that. Laura Dern's Admiral Holdo and Kelly Marie Tran's Rose Tico were the aforementioned female leads, which even led a fan to editing his own 46 minute version of the "The Last Jedi," without Rose and Holdo in it.

The mean-spiritedness from 'fans' even had  Marie Tran delete her Instagram. According to Star Wars Facts, Tran deleted her Instagram “due to months of harassment she has received for her character Rose in #TheLastJedi.”

There was no actual statement from the actress. That is until today, Tran spoke to the New York Times and had this to say about the controversy:

“This is what it is to grow up as a person of color in a white-dominated world. This is what it is to be a woman in a society that has taught its daughters that we are worthy of love only if we are deemed attractive by its sons. This is the world I grew up in, but not the world I want to leave behind,” wrote Tran in the NYT op-ed.

She continued, “I want to live in a world where children of color don’t spend their entire adolescence wishing to be white. I want to live in a world where women are not subjected to scrutiny for their appearance, or their actions, or their general existence. I want to live in a world where people of all races, religions, socioeconomic classes, sexual orientations, gender identities and abilities are seen as what they have always been: human beings.”

The character of Rose was the most uninteresting part of "The Last Jedi." However, are some fans being racist in their hate towards her? Of course.

Tran was the first woman of color to have a leading role in the “Star Wars” films, and, as mentioned, even if her character was underwhelming, there is no doubt in my mind that some trolls are attacking her based on her race and gender.

YouTube banned this teaser of 'The Nun' for being too scary

YouTube had to ban last week. However, this video had nothing to do with Alex Jones or any of the controversial conservative blackout that happened that same week. No, this was actually about the terrifying promotional campaign for the upcoming horror film "The Nun," which, it seems, frightened enough viewers with its jump-scare that YouTube had no choice but to ban the trailer. Despite the fact that it was only six seconds long.

The first four seconds of the trailer feature a black screen, but then the titular character pops up out of nowhere. A jump-scare for the ages that is scary enough to be banned for fear that a person with a heart condition might stumble upon it.Although banned, the footage can still be found every few days on YouTube. Proceed with caution, horror aficionados.

Chris Hemsworth: “The first 'Thor' is good, the second one is meh”

"Thor: Ragnarok” was a vast improvement over the first two Thor installments, much of it thanks to director Taika Waititi (“Hunt for the Wilderpeople” and “What We Do in the Shadows”) who infused the proceedings with a healthy dose of wacky meta-humor. This latest “Thor” followed in the footsteps of “Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Deadpool,” Ant-Man” and, more recently,  “Spider-Man: Homecomin g,” by not taking itself so damn seriously. 

The game-changing 2014 “Guardians of the Galaxy” sparked a new attitude in Marvel movies — why be so serious about a movie essentially based on a comic book? The DCEU seems to have gotten the memo as well with last year’s entertaining, highly successful and dour-free “Wonder Woman.” 

Waititi's "Ragnarok," a colorful, entertaining and not-so-serious work, was the kind of film that could build his career and future in droves. Marvel isn't done with him either, especially with James Gunn now out of the picture.

The artistic success of 'Ragnarok' has to be commended because, well, the first two 'Thor' films were nothing-burgers, average Marvel flicks that barely broke ground. Now, in a new interview with GQ, Thor himself Chris Hemsworth is giving an honest assessment of those forst few films, and explains why he knew they needed to change things for ‘Ragnarok.’ “The first one is good, the second one is meh,” Hemsworth says. “What masculinity was, the classic archetype—it just all starts to feel very familiar. I was so aware that we were right on the edge.”

Doesn't that say it all?

Trailer for David McKenzie's ‘Outlaw King' hints at a violent epic

As mentioned, Netflix is going to have a historic fall movie season. I just can't see them not crashing the Oscar race at this point. Of course, David McKenzie's "Outlaw King" doesn't seem to be part of their awards plan, at least when compared to Alfonso Cuaron's "ROMA," Joel and Ethan Coen's "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs" and Martin Scorsese's "The Irishman," which I hear has a a shot at changing its 2019 release date for December of 2018, all depending on how the Oscar race is shaping up and if this year's crop of contending films is too stacked to add in Scorsese's gangster saga. Personally speaking, I think if Scorsese's film is released it will win Best Picture. 

With all that being said, the upcoming “Outlaw King” has a trailer and it looks great. Telling the “untold true story” of Robert the Bruce, outlaw hero/revolutionary king, the film seems to recall Mel Gibson's "Braveheart," and Ridley Scott's "Robin Hood," although let's hope that 'Outlaw' is actually the former. 

Mackenzie brought us 2016’s excellent neo-Western “Hell or High Water” and 2014's compulsively watchable prison-drama "Starred Up." He's the real deal, but this latest endeavor can easily backfire on him. These kind of historical epics have been done to death, they're a dime a dozen, but the trailer does hint at, possibly, a well-shot and fresh new take on the genre.

Mackenzie’s film also stars Chris Pine, who also starred in “Hell or High Water,” as well as Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Florence Pugh, Billy Howle, Tony Curran, Stephen Dillane, James Cosmo, and Sam Spruell.

“Outlaw King” is the opening night film at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival and will be on Netflix November 9.

Is Asia Argento a 'Hypocrite'? It's actually much more complicated than that.

I'm sure you've heard by now about this 8.19 N.Y. Times story which exposes Asia Argent's 'hypocrisy,' if you want to call it that. After all the peddling she did to expose Harvey Weinstein and be at the forefront of the #MeToo movement, she ends being one of the guilty parties as well? 

The NYT reports that Argento paid, what Jeff Welles over at HE likes to call, "a go-away fee" of $380K to former child actor Jimmy Bennett. In 2013 Bennett accused Argento of sexual assault, he had just turned 17. Argento supposedly manipulated Bennett into oral sex submission and then sex. Many are comparing it to the Kevin Spacey assault of Anthony Rapp, but who knows how similar both incidents actually were. There shouldn't be a double standard here whether it's a male or female aggressor, right?

The word 'hypocrite' is being used a lot today in relation to Argento's behavior, But what she went through with Harvey Weinstein should be taken into a whole other context. There's no doubt in my mind Weinstein took advantage of her, but it was also shown that she played along with him and texted him after the incident(s), so who knows. 

Oh, and if you think Asia's BFF, and fellow #MeToo consigliori, Rose McGowan will back up her friend then think again. A THR write up from today has McGowan quoted as saying her "heart is broken" over the Argento/Bennett debacle. 

I got to know Asia Argento ten months ago. Our commonality is the shared pain of being assaulted by Harvey Weinstein. My heart is broken. I will continue my work on behalf of victims everywhere.

— rose mcgowan (@rosemcgowan) August 20, 2018

That's the thing about today's accusatory social media zeitgeist, you just don't know what lie is being purported as truth and what truth is being purported as a lie. You just need to play along. I don't. As Bruce Sprinsgteen said in his incredibly relevant song 'Magic,' about the Iraq/Dubya era, "trust none of what you hear and even less of what you see."

'Guardians' Dave Bautista continues his mocking of Disney, claims James Gunn's firing is part of their plan to MAGA

Disney made a final decision about James Gunn last week, they won't rehire him, but all I could think about was how Dave Bautista, who plays Drax in the “Guardians of the Galaxy” franchise, would react to the news. Bautista has been very vocal in his discontent with how Disney treated the beleaguered writer-director of 'Guardians,' even going as far as saying that the director was set-up by 'cyber-Nazis' and that, if Gunn's screenplay wasn't used, he might quit his contract. 

Well, Gunn isn't being rehired, will Bautista insist on Disney letting him go of his 'Guardians 3' contract? We do know that rumors are all over the place as to whether or not Gunn's screenplay will be used. Who knows, but Bautista continued to mock Disney over the weekend in a new tweet which proclaimed “Thanks @Disney!! Making America great again!”

The Donald Trump connection stems from Bautista adamantly insisting that Gunn was set-up by conservatives, the aforementioned 'cybernazis', looking to oust the outspoken anti-Trump director. Conservative pundit Mike Cernovich was front and center in the Gunn controversy, unearthing some decade-old offensive tweets which made jokes about pedophilia and rape.

Of course, Disney has a lot to lose if they wish to let go of Bautista's contract, that decision would further isolate fans of the series who are still reeling over Gunn's departure. Bautista being the next to go would be a major blow for the Mouse House. However, Bautista consistently taunting his bosses on Twitter is a risk that the actor seems to be thinking is worth taking. I'm sure Bautista isn't in their good graces at the moment, especially since his other 'Guardians' co-stars have a been a little more reserved in their criticisms. Alas, I'm looking forward to his next tweet.

Thanks ⁦@Disney⁩ !! Making America great again! 🇺🇸  https://t.co/t6A4030xkS

— Dave Bautista (@DaveBautista) August 17, 2018

'Crazy Rich Asians' makes box-office history, $34M debut for first all-Asian cast American film in 25 years

“Crazy Rich Asians” is a hit. Impressive. All those that thought an all Asian cast Hollywood summer movie wouldn't do well at the box-office have been sorely mistaken. The Wednesday-released film, directed by John Chu, pulled in an impressive 5-day total of $34 million. It topped the box-office. 

I was lukewarm on the film by saying in my review, "Instead of basking deeply into the traditions of his native country, Chu would rather go for an Americanized version of an Asian story. The narrative core chosen to tell the story, although based on author Kwan's luscious, award-winning vision, is a conventional one. To say Chu's film is groundbreaking for what’s on paper would be an understatement, but the story itself is rather antiquated."[Full Review] 

Nevertheless, I'm all for more movies like this happening, maybe with better source material or a less conventional screenplay.

Author Kwan had mentioned to me a few weeks ago that he declined a Netflix offer to stream the film because he wanted to release it in theaters and make history with it being an all-Asian cast Hollywood film (That has not happened since 1993's "The Joy Luck Club.") [Link]

Expect Kwan’s other novels in the ‘Asians’ series to receive the cinematic treatment as well, given the great box-office news from today, unless Kwan finally gives in to Netflix after making history with "Crazy Rich Asians."

1. Crazy Rich Asians — $25.2M ($34M Overall)
2. The Meg — $21M ($84M)
3. Mile 22 — $13.6M (Debut)
4. Alpha — $10.5M (Debut)
4. Mission: Impossible — $10.5M ($180.7M)
6. Disney’s Christopher Robin — $8.9M ($67M)
7. BlacKkKlansman — $7M ($23M)
8. Slender Man —$5M ($20.7M)
9. Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation — $3.7M ($154M)
10. Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again — $3.4M ($111M)

Disney Confirms That James Gunn Won't Be Coming back for "Guardians 3." Is It Time to Hire Taika Waititi?

According to Variety, Disney will definitely not be rehiring James Gunn for “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.”

The trade also confirms that Feige was, indeed, pushing for Gunn to be rehired, but that, after Disney made the firing official, he ultimately supported the mouse house's decision to terminate Feige's contract. 

Now, Marvel has to look for a replacement. Taika Waititi ("Thor: Ragnarok," "Hunt for the Wilder People," "What We Do in the Shadows") would be the no-brainer candidate to choose from, but does the director want to do it? Waititi's humor would fit very well with Gunn's 'Guardians' vision and would even bring an extra something that could make the film feel like a Waititi 'Guardians' film.

Hiring the New Zealand-born director would also help ease tensions between the fans and Disney, which are currently at an all-time high. Waititi is well-loved by the fans, especially after the impressive job he did with "Thor: Ragnarok," a higher-tier leveled Marvel movie which felt more along the lines of Gunn's humor than any of the "Captain America" and "Iron Man" movies.

Not too soon after Gunn was fired fans went on social media to voice their approval for Waititi to replace him:

“If Disney doesn’t tap Taika Waititi to direct Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 then they’re doing this whole thing wrong,” tweeted a fan.

“After the James Gunn fallout, I nominate Taika Waititi for Guardians of the Galaxy 3. It would be the best Guardians movie yet,” tweeted another fan.

“Give Guardians of the Galaxy to Taika Waititi so I can get the Korg & Groot team up that I didn’t know I wanted until just now.” Another fan added

'Roma' Trailer: Alfonso Cuaron's Vision of His Mexican Childhood Looks Stunning

Alfonso Cuaron's "ROMA," which was supposed to be at Cannes but, well, you know, was shot in black and white and chronicles a year in the life of a middle-class family in Mexico City in the early 1970s with civil unrest looming as the background.

It is the only film of the upcoming fall festival season that was chosen by all 4 major film festivals (Telluride, Venice, Toronto, and New York). 

This newly released trailer absolutely makes the case for "ROMA" to possibly exceed hype and be the great winner with critics this fall.

After Cuaron, Scoresese & Coen, It's Michael Bay's Turn To Direct A Netflix Movie

I have no problem with Netflix crashing the Oscar game, it could help and push the other major studios to step up their game and actually produce more original content instead of the money-hungry, franchise-obsessed mindset that is currently running rampant in almost every major exec's head.

With all that said, Netflix will be legitimizing itself as a major studio in the next few months when its fall lineup starts to be released, on by one, like a staggering domino-effect that's about to take over the industry.

Again, the word that needs to be used here is "legitimization." Even to this day, people still aren't taking Netflix as a serious distributor of "cinema." Those unwilling to accept that, yes, a Netflix movie should be counted as a real movie, one that is gunning for credible awards contention, will get a major wakeup call these next few months when Alfonso Cuaron's "ROMA" is released in theaters.

The advanced buzz surrounding "ROMA" is incredible. Cuaron is one of the best filmmakers around and the fact that many are touting his film as a Best Picture contender is a sign of many great things to come for both Cuaron and Netflix. 
Some of the most important Hollywood filmmakers are now making the jump to the streaming giant. After all, Hollywood executives from the other major studios have all but killed the idea of giving highly talented directors the room for creative freedom. 

Later this fall Joel and Ethan Cohen will be giving us their 132-minute anthology Western "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs," the creative freedom was so flexible on the film for the brothers that, although they had originally intended "Scruggs" as a 6 part mini-series, they have decided, with the full backing of Netflix, to turn it into a feature-length film instead. "Scruggs" is due to premiere at the Venice Film Festival next month and set to be released via stream later this year.

Want some icing on that cake? Lest we forget that Netflix is also in charge of distributing, maybe, the most anticipated film for cinephiles of these past few years: Martin Scorsese's "The Irishman." It's been 25 years since Scorsese/De Niro teamed up for a movie (1995's "Casino") but during that time the director/actor behind such classics as "Goodfellas," 'Taxi Driver," The King of Comedy" and "Mean Streets" have seen their work age like fine wine and turn into the stuff of legend, with even millennials jumping onboard and taking great affinity to the staggering body of work these two artists concocted in their 3+ decades of work together.

We can add Michael Bay to the list of Hollywood A-list directors Netflix has inked up, although his reputation as a director of brainless, but successful, action films for the low-brow machismo crowd won't give him any Oscars. Bay's large fanbase will be following his journey to Netflix as his cameras are ready to roll on the Ryan Reynolds and Melanie Laurent starring action vehicle "Six Underground."

Reynolds' "Deadpool" collaborators Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick will be part of the creative team, with the tone being described as "the R-rated superhero action-comedy meets "Mission: Impossible.""

Laurent joins a cast that already includes Dave Franco, Corey Hawkins, Adria Arjona, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Ben Hardy, Lior Raz and should streaming on Netflix next year.

Steve McQueen's "Widows" is ready to roll

As far as I'm concerned, Writer-Director Steve McQueen is a perfect 3 for 3 ("Hunger," "Shame," "12 Years A Slave") in his short filmmaking career. It has been 5 years since "Slave" won the Best Picture Oscar, but it looks like McQueen has decided to tackle the 'lightest' topic of his career, at least by his standards, a bank robbery/heist flick.

An adaptation of a Gillian Flynn novel, "Widows" is McQueen the major studio filmmaker, for which I am very much excited for. Earlier in the summer the trailer had hinted at a rather genre-y film. I wrote:

"The trailer makes the film look like a generic heist film, albeit a well-shot one, but don't we expect more from McQueen than this? I know there are, no doubt, plenty of potential socio-political topics to tackle here but doesn't the mixture of McQueen and the pulp source material from Flynn feel almost too facile?"

Well,  A new trailer has been released and, it seems like, we're right back on track. This is the movie I wanted to see. It sure has me amped up in catching it at TIFF during the first week of September.  I understand why they skipped Telluride and Venice and just decided on Toronto, it just feels like the right festival to world premiere this kind of genre film and get a good boost for its Oscar chances.

McQueen (“12 Years a Slave,” “Shame”) directs from a script he co-wrote with Gillian Flynn (who also adapted her own novel “Gone Girl”). The film stars Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Colin Farrell, Liam Neeson, Daniel Kaluuya, and Robert Duvall.

Here’s the official synopsis:

“From Academy Award®-winning director Steve McQueen (“12 Years a Slave”) and co-writer and bestselling author Gillian Flynn (“Gone Girl”) comes a blistering, modern-day thriller set against the backdrop of crime, passion, and corruption. “Widows” is the story of four women with nothing in common except a debt left behind by their dead husbands’ criminal activities. Set in contemporary Chicago, amid a time of turmoil, tensions build when Veronica (Oscar® winner Viola Davis), Alice (Elizabeth Debicki), Linda (Michelle Rodriguez) and Belle (Cynthia Erivo) take their fate into their own hands and conspire to forge a future on their own terms.  “Widows” also stars Liam Neeson, Colin Farrell, Robert Duvall, Daniel Kaluuya, Lukas Haas and Brian Tyree Henry.”

Wes Anderson's Next Movie is A Post-WWII France Musical

According to a report by French newspaper Charente Libre, Wes Anderson’s next film will be a musical set in Post-WWII France. Sign me up please, ASAP.

I had previously written about the film:  "Director Wes Andersonis known to take his time in-between each released film of his. However, it seems that soon after this year's "Isle of Dogs," Anderson jumped right into another project, which could potentially be released next year."

"Yesterday I wrote about Anderson prepping his 10th feature film with production set to begin in February 2019 and wrapping on May 2019.  No details were known about the plot/setting but now, according to French publication Sud Ouest, it this mysterious new project will take place in France and be set right after World War II. "

"Anderson, an avid Francophile, lives in France and so it is not that surprising to hear he will be writing looks to be, by all accounts, a French story."

“Fahrenheit 11/9" Poster: A-Hole In One?

Last month Director Michael Moore admitted on 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,' that he cries every day while reading the news. He added, whilst announcing his next movie would be titled "Fahrenheit 11/9" and would be taking on President Trump, "the only way we're going to stop this is that we're going to have to put our bodies on the line," saying that the reason he makes films is that he "thinks there is a chance."

Moore also revealed that the film would see him team up with trusted film exec Tom Ortenberg to distribute "Fahrenheit 11/9." However, Deadline's Mike Fleming Jr. reported that Harvey Weinstein "paid just north of $2 million out of the $6 million pledged in a doc deal Moore used to get the film to this point" and that the battle for the film's rights might go to court.

It doesn't look like Weinstein will be stopping the film from having its world premiere this coming September at the Toronto International Film Festival.

My take on Moore is this: "Roger and Me," "Bowling For Columbine" and "Fahrenheit 9/11" are his only above average films. All three were released at such integrally important times. They also had the kind of fiery passion and zeitgeist-capturing sting to them that I just can't see "Fahrenheit 11/9" attaining, mostly due to the overdone Trump saturation that is happening with the media. What could Moore be telling us with this documentary that we don't already know before? I'm all eyes and ears to be delightfully surprised by his new film, but skeptical as well.

Official synopsis of the film:

"Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 11/9 is a provocative and comedic look at the times in which we live. It will explore the two most important questions of the Trump Era: How the f**k did we get here, and how the f**k do we get out? It's the film to see before it's too late."

"Arizona" is very watchable because of Danny McBride

I do think I was a little harsh when it came to my review of the Danny McBride starring vehicle "Arizona." I had given it a C+ but, upon further reflection, maybe a B- would have sufficed because, you see, I'm an unabashed Danny McBride cheerleader. Any movie he's in I will probably give a shot. Don't ask me why.  The Danny McBride hall-of-fame will always be the triumphantly brilliant arrogance he perpetrated in "This is the End," and "Pineapple Express." 

Anyway, add in Rosemary DeWitt into "Arizona" and how bad can the movie possible be? Don't consider this necessarily a recommendation but "Arizona" is very watchable, mostly due to its two leads. As I had written back in January: "The potential of this movie’s premise might have been squandered by cliches, but McBride and DeWitt keep it watchable." Especially McBride.

“Arizona” is in theaters on August 24th.