I spoke with Hollywood-Elsewhere's Jeffrey Wells for roughly an hour today. Some topics discussed were the "Green Book" backlash. We also discussed Netflix and Roma, Ben Stiller‘s Escape at Dannemora, the Best Actress race and Melissa McCarthy in particular. Listen below.
China’s Oscars: Country Shocked As Winner Calls for Taiwanese Independence on Live TV, Political Storm Erupts
The Golden Horse Awards are China's version of the Oscars, and at last night's telecast, Chinese audiences were greeted to a blisteringly controversial speech by Fu Yue, the director of Best Documentary winner “Our Youth in Taiwan.” In her acceptance speech, Yue called for Taiwan’s independence. “I hope one day our country will be recognized and treated as a truly independent entity,” Fu said. “This is my biggest wish as a Taiwanese."
Read more‘At Eternity's Gate' Tackles an Artist Who Only Got Recognition Post-Mortem, And There Are Plenty of Them
Julian Schanbel's "At Eternity's Gate" tackles Vincent Van Gogh's life in deceptively simple ways. The film's eloquence derives in the fact that Schnabel is much more interested in the torment and the undue respect the painter of "Starry Night" never got from his cohorts. Van Gogh himself would approve of this intimate channeling — the visions and torment that seeped through the impressionist painter are dealt with head-on in Schanbel's film.
Read moreProducers Guild Documentary Noms: ‘RBG’, ‘Three Identical Strangers’, ‘Won’t You Be My Neighbor?’ And More
"RBG," "Three Identical Strangers," "Won’t You Be My Neighbor?," "Hal," "Into the Okavango," "The Dawn Wall" and "Free Solo" have been nominated for the Producer Guild’s 2019 Documentary Motion Picture award.
I haven't heard about or seen 'Okavango' and 'Wall' but the rest are well-deserved. My absolute coup de coeur this year has got to be "Three Identical Strangers" a masterwork of non-fiction.
The winner will be announced January 19 at the PGA Awards.
Alfonso Cuaron Explains Why DP Emmanuel Lubezski Passed On ‘Roma’
Speaking on the “Director’s Cut” podcast, Alfonso Cuaron finally explained why his longtime friend and DP Emmanuel Lubezski wasn’t the cinematographer for “Roma”:
Read moreWhat Are the Best Heist Movies Since ‘Heat’?
An 11.19.18 writeup by The Ringer's Adam Nayman and Chris Ryan titled "The Best Heist Movies Since ‘Heat’" ponders the fate of the heist genre ever since Michael Mann created the definitive and iconic statement back in 1995. Hell, even Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight" was immensely influenced by Mann's dark, gritty, neon-splattered vision of the L.A. crime underworld.
Read moreStan Lee's Team Slams Bill Maher for ‘Disgusting’ Comments About Late Comic Creator
Stan Lee’s team at POW! Entertainment have written a scathing open letter in response to Bill Maher's comments over the weekend, in which the Real Time HBO host blamed Lee for inflicting comic book culture on America and even went as far as saying that Lee was responsible for electing Donald Trump.
Read the whole letter from POW! below:
Read moreJude Law says ‘It’s a Terrible Shame’ Woody Allen Can't Release His New Movie
Jude Law has a role in “A Rainy Day in New York,” the Woody Allen film which has been indefinitely shelved by Amazon Studios due to accusations made against him by daughter Dylan Farrow, and the ensuing anti-Woody campaign concocted by Dylan's mother Mia and brotherRonan.
“It’s a terrible shame,” Law told The New York Times about “A Rainy Day in New York” not being released in theaters. “I’d love to see it. People worked really hard and put a lot in, obviously himself included."
Director Sebastián Lelio: ‘The presence of porn is everywhere and making us numb’
Sebastián Lelio's “Disobedience” will always be known for its erotically charged sex scene between female leads Rachel Weisz and Rachel McAdams. In a new Guardian profile, Lelio mentions, “I knew this scene was at the heart of the film, but didn’t know how to face it. It made me think about how sex is represented today. The presence of porn is everywhere and making us numb — eroticism has been altered and damaged.”
Read morePeter Farelly's ‘Green Book‘ Slammed As ‘White Savior Film'
This past week's controversy, which had "Green Book" star Viggo Mortensen daring to utter the 'n-word' at a post-screening Q&A, slightly tainted director Peter Farelly's chances at winning a Best Picture Oscar, something which I've predicted might happen ever since I saw the film in September.
Read moreDick Cheney Biopic ‘Vice' Screened For Critics In L.A.; Christian Bale Leaps to the Top of Best Actor Race
Yesterday's first screening of Adam McKay's "Vice" (in L.A.) has led to the the first wave of critical reactions for the film (positioned to be released by Annapurna on Christmas day.). The tweets say that Christian Bale is great as Dick Cheney and that the film is a risky, bold take on the conniving Vice-President's 8-year stay at the White House. However, judging by the reactions, it seems like some are quite hesitant in calling "Vice" a great movie. I've read and heard lots of "there's a lot to ponder," type of responses.
Read moreYouTube is Now Showing Free Hollywood Movies with Ad Breaks like ‘Rocky,' ‘Terminator,' and ‘Legally Blonde'
Last month YouTube, quite subtly, and with a complete lack of promotional campaigning, started showing ad-supported movies, including "The Terminator," "Rocky" and "Legally Blonde," for free.
Read moreSylvester Stallone on ‘Creed 2': “The Rocky universe is gone"
“The irony is, as my life evolves, I find new things in the Rocky character,” the 72-year-old said when the Sun visited the set of Creed II this past spring. “In the last one, he faced death and his own mortality. In this one, he’s finally completely alone. The only thing he has left is this young man. So he’s now part of the Creed universe. The Rocky universe is gone. It’s left in the graveyard.”
Read moreBill Maher Trashes Comic Book Culture and Stan Lee, Says They Are Responsible for Trump's Election
Yes, the across-the-board worshiping of Stan Lee's death should never be condemned. Lee was, by all accounts, a good man who, in this last turn of the century, ended up being one of the most important and revolutionary figures for pop culture and the mainstream. Superhero movies are all the rage these days, and have been since "X-Men" was released in 2000. And so, what's resulted in these 18 years since that film's release is the corporate Marvel-ization of mainstream movies. Nostalgia took over, mass infantilization if you will; fanboy culture has risen.
Read moreOscars: Can Steve McQueen's ‘Widows' Get Nominated For Best Picture?
At the moment, it is very hard to predict whether "Widows" will garner a Best Picture nomination, all of this despite its 86 metacritic score and 92% RT score.
If director Steve McQueen's film is not nominated for Best Picture, it won't be because it's an action film, a genre the Academy tends to ignore much like sci-fi. No, "Widows" is not an "action" movie; It's an arty-cool, distancing film that is more about build-up than tany actual heist. McQueen's film has none of the high-tension, octane-driven action that the trailer hinted at, it plays more like a snail-paced, character-driven drama than anything else. There are socio-political overtones throughout the film as well, something the Academy seems to be hungry for ever since #OscarsSoWhite ridiculed them back in 2014.
Read moreTim Allen Likes Pissing Liberals Off: "There's Nothing Worse to Them Than A Very Funny Conservative."
The new trend these days on television seems to be the success of conservative-minded TV shows. Just look at how Roseanne catapulted to the top of the ratings due, in part, to its star's unadulterated, not to mention unfiltered, pro-Trump rhetoric. Trumpsters love to have their values represented in pop culture, something that so rarely happens in mostly liberal-minded Hollywood. So it is not a surprise that Tim Allen's "Last Man Standing" is doing so well. A popular ABC show which was all-of-a-sudden cancelled by the network earlier this year, 'Standing' found a new home at FOX where, surprise surprise, it has become a major hit.
Read moreFilmStruck replaced by The Criterion Channel; Free-Standing Streaming Service to Launch Spring 2019
The Criterion Collection will have its own independent streaming platform, named The Criterion Channel. The partnership with WarnerMedia is for a “free-standing streaming service” which is set to launch in the Spring of 2019. Cinephiles rejoice!
Read more2019 Independent Spirit Awards; ‘Eighth Grade’ & ‘First Reformed’ Lead Nominees List
The Independent Spirit Awards nominations have been announced and the biggest shocker is the total snub of Melissa McCarthy‘s immaculate performance as Lee Israel in "Can You Ever Forgive Me?" Does this spell trouble for Oscar? Doubt it, the performance is too irresistible to ignore and McCarthy is, at this point, industry royalty.
Read moreJimmy Kimmel Begs Michelle Obama to ‘Save Us’ from Trump; Compares Obama to Superman.
“You see how much we miss you? I mean where did you go” Kimmel said after Michelle Obama sat down for an interview to promote her just-released book, “We need you back in the old house.”
Read moreA24 to Produce Movies for Apple
Yesterday afternoon, the Wall Street Journal’s Tripp Mickle and Erin Schwartzel reported that Apple would be teaming up with A24 to produce “independent” features for the tech giant. Tweeted by WAPO entertainment writer Steven Zeitchik: “A24-Apple is about as smart as entertainment partnerships get. Apple just found a fast-track into the prestige-film game, and A24 has another financial backstop in case its hedge-fund backers go cold. Something for everybody.”
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For months, people close to CEO David Ellison had hinted that he would leave if state AGs didn't drop their antitrust suit against the $111 billion Warner Bros. Discovery merger.