Italian Filmmaker Decides to Wear a Homemade "Weinstein is Innocent" T-Shirt at Red Carpet Premiere of 'Suspiria'

“One person's craziness is another person's reality.” ― Tim Burton.

When it comes to bad ideas, this might just take the cake. Director Luciano Silighini Garagnani showing off his homemade "Weinstein is Innocent" T-shirt during the red carpet premiere of Luca Guadagnino's "Suspiria" at the Venice Film Festival. I'm not sure if this is supposed to be a joke, but now people know who he is.

Summer Movie Report Card

A FOR ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENT: BlackKklansman, Eighth Grade, Hereditary, Leave No Trace, Won't You Be My Neighbor, Three Identical Strangers, The Wife, Whitney, Sorry to Bother You, Tully

B FOR BLISSFUL ESCAPISM: Mission: Impossible - Fallout, Searching

C FOR CASH COWS: Incredibles 2, Avengers: Infinity War, Deadpool 2, Mama Mia: Here We Go Again, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Hotel Transylvania 3, Oceans 8, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

D FOR DEAD ON ARRIVAL: Solo: A Star Wars Story, Equalizer 2, The Spy Who Dumped Me, Skyscraper, The Happytime Murders, Book Club, Sicario 2, The Meg, Tag, Adrift

F FOR FAILURE TO LAUNCH: Slender Man, Death of A Nation, Superfly,  Life of the Party, Christopher Robin, The First Purge, Overboard, Breaking In, Uncle Drew, The Darkest Minds, Unfriended: The Dark Web

Mike Leigh explains why Cannes rejected ‘Peterloo'

Mike Leigh's "Peterloo" (Amazon, 11.9), has had a strange journey ever since it was rejected by Cannes. Venice picked it up as a premiere, but a dark shadow looms all over this movie. Is it as bad as the rumors say it is? The trailer doesn't necessarily give you that impression. However, this does look like the kind of film that Ken Loach consistently produces in his sleep.

Leigh's film is a recreation of the Peterloo Massacre of 1819, a clash between government officials and protesters which ended with 15 civilians being killed.  What originally started as a march of 60,000 citizens at St. Peter’s Field, to demand Parliamentary reform and an expansion of voting rights, turned into a police state bout of violence that still stings to this day.

When asked by Screendaily about receiving awards at festivals, Leigh mentioned the Cannes fiasco, “Everybody knows that Cannes rejected ‘Peterloo.’ They said they respected it but it wasn’t for them.”

His last film was 2014's "Mr. Turner," a biopic of artist J.M.W Turner. His stock has slightly tumbled over the last few years, although he still remains one of the greatest British directors of all-time. The director's indisputably great movies will always be, for me at least, "Secrets and Lies," and "Naked."

Chadwick Boseman: 'Black Panther' is a Best Picture Oscar, Not a "Popular Oscar"

After the Academy announced the "outstanding achievement in popular film" category was due to take effect at next February's 91st Academy Awards, we were all wondering if that would deter "Black Panther" and its chances in becoming the first ever Marvel movie nominated for Best Picture.

'Panther' cast and crew have called out the Academy's decision and believe their film is the real deal for the bigger prize, the latest to stand ground is the film's star, Black Panther himself, Chadwick Boseman, who spoke to THR:

"For my money, the only thing that matters is the level of difficulty, I dare any movie to try to compare to the [level of] difficulty of this one." 

"We don't know what it [the new prize] is, so I don't know whether to be happy about it or not. What I can say is that there's no campaign [that we are mounting] for 'popular film'; like, if there's a campaign, it's for best picture, and that's all there is to it." 

Major awards publicist Strategy PR's Cynthia Swartz was hired by Disney for the 'Panther' campaign and, quite frankly, she has a good shot at making her clients' wishes come to fruition. 'Panther' is not only the year's highest-grossing movie domestically, but one of the best-reviewed movies of the year as well, even though I thought it was just a fairly average, by-the-books Marvel movie. 



Boseman went on to say that "a good movie is a good movie and clearly it doesn't matter how much money a movie makes in order for it to be 'a good movie' [in the minds of Academy members] because if [it did], the movies that get nominated and win [which have tended in recent years to not be blockbusters] wouldn't get nominated; and if it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter on both sides. We created a world, we created a culture ... we had to create a religion, a spirituality, a politics; we had to create an accent; we had to pull from different cultures to create clothing styles and hair styles. It's very much like a period piece. ... So, as far as that's concerned, I dare any movie to try to compare to the [level of] difficulty of this one. And the fact that so many people liked it — if you just say it's [merely] popular, that's elitist."

Ok, fine. I know there are a lot of 'Panther' fans out there, I know I'm in the minority when it comes to my feelings about the film being just 'ok.' What else can I say? The movie followed the same narrative structure of almost every other Marvel movie, there was no rule-breaking or risk-taking, except for, of course, the all-black cast which did feel refreshing to witness, and, to many, that is more than enough to reward and rave about 'Panther.' Film criticism has very much changed over these last few years, the 'resistance' has taken over the movie industry. Anything for progress, I understand, but aren't we supposed to judge what's on-screen instead of the historic casting surrounding the film?

Alfonso Cuaron's 'Roma' gets universally praised at Venice

This fall movie season looks decent enough for me, but there seems to be something missing, a lot of these films will turn out to be disappointments if the advanced buzz is any indication. However, there are two exceptions: Yorgos Lanthimos' "The Favourite" and, more intriguingly, Alfonso Cuaron's "Roma."

 Shot in black and white, the latter chronicles a year in the life of a middle-class family in Mexico City in the early 1970s as civil unrest looms.

I wrote last month about Roma's buzz:

"The only film with actually no-holds-barred buzz seems to be Alfonso Cuaron and Netflix' "Roma," which was supposed to be at Cannes but, well, you know the rest of the story... "

“Roma” was supposed to debut at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival in competition, but was pulled after the, now famous, Cannes vs Netflix dispute occured. This was an obvious open slot for fall festivals to pounce on and, given the incredible buzz surrounding the movie, it's a no-brainer that the Film Society of Lincoln Center announced “Roma” will be the centerpiece NYFF screening at Alice Tully Hall on Friday, October 5, 2018.

Now reviews are starting to be filed from this morning's Venice premiere and, suffice to say, minds have been blown, nerves shattered, emotions twirled. 

If its 96 Metacritic score is any indication, and it is a very good indication,  it means we have a very special film coming in theaters this fall.

"Roma" was the only film of the upcoming fall festival season that was chosen by all 4 major film festivals (Telluride, Venice, Toronto, and New York).  The newly released trailer absolutely makes the case for it to be the great winner with critics this fall.

Telluride Film Festival Announces Lineup, Includes World Premieres for 'Destroyer,' 'Boy Erased,' and 'Can You Ever Forgive Me'

Most of these titles have been speculated here the last few weeks. However, that Edward Zwick film came out of nowhere. Did they really choose it over Jenkins and McQueen's films? What does that say about the latter two's qualities? Also, a new film by Ralph Fiennes? 

The whole lineup can be found here.

Trailer: Jason Reitman's 'The Front Runner' shoots darts at the 24-hour news cycle

Jason Reitman fell of the quality bandwagon with “Labor Day” and “Men, Women and Children,” those two duds almost nullified the excellent one-two punch he had with "Juno" and "Up in the Air."  However, this past year he released his dreamy and surreal ode to motherhood “Tully,” which was a near perfect film, despite its lame twist ending. Now Reitman is back with his second film in the same year, which will be having its premiere this week at Telluride, “The Front Runner.” 

"The Front Runner" is based on Matt Bai’s 2014 book “All the Truth Is Out: The Week Politics Went Tabloid,” which dealt with the true story of Presidential candidate Gary Hart's campaign and the sex scandal that ensured. Reitman will surely be shooting darts at the 24-hour news cycle, a theme that feels more resonant today than ever before.

Here’s the official synopsis:

"Hugh Jackman is set to star in the upcoming biopic “The Front Runner,” about former Senator Gary Hart. Hart served as a U.S. Senator from Colorado from 1975 to 1987, but is most famous for his two bids for the presidency in 1984 and 1988. During the latter primary campaign, he was considered the frontrunner, far ahead of eventual candidate Mike Dukakis, but his momentum became hobbled by accusations in the media of an extramarital affair. Hart famously challenged the media to, “Follow me around. I don’t care. I’m serious. If anybody wants to put a tail on me, go ahead. They’ll be very bored.” The tabloids accepted the challenge, and photographs of Hart with a woman named Donna Rice aboard a yacht brought a swift end to his candidacy."

The film’s cast includes Hugh Jackman, Vera Farmiga, Kaitlyn Dever, Sara Paxton, J. K. Simmons, Mamoudou Athie, Molly Ephraim, Josh Brener, and Mike Judge.

“The Front Runner” will be released on November 7.

David Fincher’s ‘Mindhunter’ Casts Same Charles Manson Actor as Quentin Tarantino's 'Once Upon A Time In Hollywood'

Collider's resident insider Jeff Sneider is reporting that Damon Herriman, the actor hired by Quentin Tarantino to play Charles Manson in his upcoming "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood," will also be playing Manson in the second season of David Fincher's Netflix series "Mindhunter." 

Sneider goes on to elaborate that his "Sources say while Herriman will appear as a 1969-era Manson in the Tarantino film, his appearance in "Mindhunter" will be in the ’80s, when Manson was already behind bars. That lines up with previous reports that the second season will feature the Atlanta Child Murders, which took place between 1979 and 1981. Other serial killers expected to appear include the Son of Sam and, of course, the BTK Killer, who popped up throughout the first season, though he was never mentioned by name."

"Sources say that while Herriman’s casting in the Tarantino film was announced first, he was actually cast in "Mindhunter" much earlier, and in fact, already shot his scenes in July. Either way, the fact that he booked projects from Fincher and Tarantino back-to-back should speak highly of his take on Manson. I mean, when masters of casting like Fincher and Tarantino vouch for you, who else do you need to impress in this town?"

"Mindhunter" had a great first season and was the kind of series that made you crave for a follow-up, what with the stakes being higher than ever after that final shot. 

Fincher hasn't directed a film since 2014's "Gone Girl." At some point he was supposed to helm a Ben Affleck-starring remake of Alfred Hitchcock's "Strangers on A Train," but IMDB doesn't have that project's page listed anymore and it probably won't be happening any time soon due to Affleck re-entering rehab this past week. Scrapped? Who knows. Fincher was also supposed to collaborate with Brad Pitt for the fourth time with a "World War Z" sequel, but that has been put in the backburner as well due to the director's investment with "Mindhunter."

There is currently no premiere date for "Mindhunter" and its second season, but I have been told not to be surprised if it appears in the coming months on Netflix. Tarantino's "Once Upon A Time In Hollywood" will be released on July 26th, 2019

Cary Fukunaga on ‘True Detective’ Long Take and how creator Nic Pizzolatto wanted it cut

As I mentioned earlier this week, it's starting to look, more and more, like the brains behind that incredible initial season of 'True Detective" must, in fact, be credited to director Cary Fukunaga and not show creator Nic Pizzolatto, who, of course, still had a major say within the creative process.

Fukunaga's GQ magazine interview is a fascinating read, but the part I've highlighted has to do with the creative battle between he and Pizzolatto on that now famous six- minute long take.

“Nic wanted to cut it up in post-production,” Fukunaga said of the six-minute unbroken take, which follows Matthew McConaughey’s detective as he goes through a bank robbery in a very shady urban area. “He did not like that I was pushing for that one at all.”

“I mean, there’s nothing really that inventive about [‘True Detective’],” the director said. “It’s just another crime drama.” 

Fukunaga is directing the upcoming Netflix limited series “Maniac,” starring Emma Stone and Jonah Hill. It should have its Netflix premiere on September 21st.

Damien Chazelle's "First Man" debuts at Venice to positive reviews

The general consensus from this morning's screening of Damien Chazelle's "First Man" at the Venice Film Festival is far from universal praise.  Owen Gleiberman’s Variety review is the only 100 score on Metacritic thus far. Colleagues have told me that Claire Foy outshines Ryan Gosling here. I'm still very much looking forward to this as it seems like Chazelle has decided to shoot the film in the style of a 1960s "cinema verite" documentary. I'm seeing a lot of B+ and 4/5 star reviews. Chazelle has proven to be an incredible talent with his first two major films, so there's no reason this film won't deliver.

Stephanie Zacharek's Time review:

"This is a respectful movie, even a genuflecting one; there’s never a moment when Chazelle fails to let you know he’s doing important, valuable work. But that’s the problem: The movie feels too fussed-over for such a low-key hero"

First Poster and Trailer - Orson Welles’ ‘The Other Side Of The Wind'

It's been quite the journey for Orson Welles' "The Other Side of the Wind." The film, an abandoned project that was shot in the 1970s, was finally completed by Welles' protege, director, Peter Bogdanovich this year. Netflix jumped on-board at the opportunity to restore this "lost" film when every other studio balked. 

Last May, an Indiegogo campaign was launched to help complete Orson Welles' final film. 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 took on the task and nabbed the global rights to the film, the deal implied that they were to finance the completion and restoration of "The Other Side of the Wind," this would all lead to a full-throtted release this year.

“The Other Side Of The Wind” premieres in Venice this week, then a pit-stop to the Telluride film festival before it ends its celebratory journey at the New York Film Festival in October. “The Other Side Of The Wind” will be in select theaters, and stream on Netflix, November 2nd.