What Jeffrey Wells likes to call the National Alliance of Politically Correct Scolds and Admonishers (NAPCSA) will be very angry by today's announcement that Peter Farelly's "Green Book" has won won the National Board of Review best picture prize.
Read moreWhy I don't like *most* Superhero movies
I haven't re-watched "Black Panther" lately, but it's not even the best Marvel movie of the year. I'm writing this in complete shock having just heard the news that Arthouse Convergence is getting involved in pushing 'Panther' for Oscars? Am I dreaming this? A $700 million Disney movie having to turn to arthouses for support.
Read moreEarly ‘Aquaman' Reactions Hint That it Could be ‘Best DCEU Movie'
Jason Momoa as “Aquaman” is actually happening. It feels like this film has been in post-production hell for ages. Yes, the film is being released in a few weeks (three to be precise) unless, of course, the WB decides to be masochists that they are and move up the release yet again.
Read more‘Avengers: Infinity War' tops IMDB's 20 best-rated movies of 2018 with a user rating of 8.5
The IMDB's user rating system tends to give a decent indication as to what general mainstream audiences like and don't like in their movies. Again, the key word here is "mainstream" because you will not find a film like "Avengers: Infinity War" topping any critics ten best lists in the next few weeks and months to come. However, the Marvel film, and second-to-last installment for the fourth MCU phase, has, by all accounts, towered over the rest of 2018's movie releases when it comes to IMDB user ratings.
Read more‘The Favourite' is One of the Year's Very Best Films
Yorgos Lanthimos turned more than a few heads with his 2010 film, the bewildering "Dogtooth." The film, which was about a locked up family living by their own set of language, math and rules, announced the arrival of a new cinematic talent, albeit one that would no doubt be divisively met by critics and audiences alike. Lanthimos felt like a sort of heir to Bunuel's own provocative brand of cinema, which the late great master perfected in the '60s and '70s with "Viridiana," 'The Exterminating Angel," "The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie" and "The Obscure Object of Desire."
Read moreActress Gina Rodriguez Criticized For Fact-Based Claim That Black Women Get Paid More Than Latina Women
Gina Rodriguez claims that black and Asian women make more money than Latina women. This was said by the "Jane the Virgin" actress at a Net-a-Porter roundtable, which featured her fellow TV stars Ellen Pompeo, Gabrielle Union, and Emma Thompson; during the same event, Pompeo advocated for more racial diversity in the industry.
Read moreDisney's Shot-For-Shot Live-Action Reboots Bank on Viewer Nostalgia
So here's how it usually works these days Hollywood. A formula working well at the box-office? Well, how about we just recycle it again and again and again ... And once that idea stalls then how about we bank on the nostalgia of the original and reboot it into a whole new package. Disney's caught on to this like real pros with their juggernaut franchises, in fact, that's all they seem to be doing — Marvel, Star Wars, animation etc. not a single original thought conceived, they have to stick with what people already know, what people are comfortable with, what doesn't provoke new thoughts. It's all really a big fat brainwash if you ask me.
Read moreDirector Bernardo Bertolucci Dies at 77
The maestro has passed on.
According to THR, Academy Award-winning Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci died at the age of 77 over the weekend.
His filmography is voluminous. Bertolucci was no doubt a provocateur of big, epic statements. I'm rather mixed on his Best Picture winner “The Last Emperor,” a well-photographed but meandering epic that could only be made to win the big prize in the '80s. No, the Bertolucci will forever love and adore is the artist that gave us the Marlon Brando/Maria Schneider controversy-ridden “Last Tango in Paris,” a film that broke barriers for sex on-screen and which depicted a sexually-charged relationship between a widowed man and a young woman. His lifelong partnership with cinematographer extraordinaire Vittorio Storraro is well-known; they made a total of 9 films together, including “The Conformist,” which could very well be deemed as his masterpiece, and the best photographed movie of all-time. Controversy would follow him again in 2003 with the NC-17 rated “The Dreamers” starring Michael Pitt, Eva Green and Louis Garrel-- An incredibly sexy film that has aged like fine wine over the years.
Bertolucci’s final film was made 9 years after "The Dreamers," the 2012 feature, “Me and You.”
‘Green Book' Disappoints at Holiday Box-office
I have consistently been saying that if "Green Book" wants to compete for the Best Picture prize then it has to have a successful box-office run. Right now, we are looking at "okay" numbers, nothing that spells out a runaway success -- its $7.1M weekend, in over 1000 screens, just doesn't cut it. Word of mouth will surely hit, more people will go see what is under my estimation the movie that has the highest quality mainstream appeal this holiday season.
Read moreDirector Nicolas Roeg, whose films include ‘Don't Look Now' and ‘Walkabout' has died aged 90
Director Nicolas Roeg has passed away at the age of 90. He started off as an immaculate DP in the early '60s — responsible for two of the very best photographed big studio films of that era ("Lawrence of Arabia," and "Doctor Zhivago"). However, he truly made a name for himself as the director of some significant groundbreakers the following decade. His terrific artistic streak of films as a director in the early to mid ’70s ("Don't Look Now," "Walkabout" and "The Man Who Feel to Earth") was impressive, especially "Don't Look Now," a film which has had significant impact on horror films.
Read moreTHR Poll: ‘Back to the Future 4’ is the sequel audiences most want to see
The Hollywood Reporter conducted a poll, with the help of Morning Consult, that found the franchise that audiences most want to see return is "Back to the Future."
The poll surveyed 2,201 adults earlier this month, with close to 71% admitting they'd most want to hop on that DeLorean with Doc Brown and Marty McFly. Runners-up in the poll were "Toy Story 4," and "Indian Jones 5."
“There’s a strong consumer demand for movie reboots and sequels, which spells good news for movie studios looking to capitalize on that nostalgic feeling,” Tyler Sinclair, Morning Consult’s vice president told THR. “Our polling finds half of Americans say they are much more likely to watch throwbacks and revivals.”
See the full poll here.
World of Reel's 35 most anticipated movies of 2019
Taking a cue from Hollywood-Elsewhere's 2019 preview, I present to you World of Reel's 35 most anticipated movies of 2019. The original list was of around 100 movies, but these are the cream of the crop, what should be considered a cinephiles wet dream of projects. You won't find 'The Avengers' of 'The Lion King' because, quite frankly, those are sure-fire box-office bonanzas and I am just not that excited about them. In fact, there are only 4 sequels or reboots on this list, already a high enough number for me.
Read moreHow TV Replaced Movies As the Medium For Adult-Driven Drama
Last year was the year when TV, in terms of sheer quality of artistry, caught up to American filmmaking. I can't see it any other way. 2017 was the year, when comparing my movie ten-best list and my TV ten-best list, I came to the conclusion that the television I was watching was vastly superior. Don't believe me? Well, how else can you not make the case that "Twin Peaks: The Return," "The Leftovers," "Handmaid's Tale," "The Deuce," "Big Little Lies," "Mindhunter," "Better Call Saul," "GLOW," "Better Things," and "Master of None" were top-tier works of art?
Read moreDisney's Live-Action “The Lion King" is Revealed
Ok fine, I'll budge. Where's the excitement in yet another live-action remake of a Disney animated classic? This time it's 1994's "The Lion King"? This looks like it'll be a live-action CGI fest with basically the same Hamlet-inspired narrative as the original. Disney will dominate the box-office with Jon Favreau's take on 'Lion King,' families will flock to the theater, millennial nostalgists as well — I will no doubt go to a press screening and review it, but so what?
Read moreProducer of Wes Anderson's upcoming film says it's not a musical, “...but a film set in France at different times [periods]. It’s a story about writers, with connections to Kansas, USA.”
Wes Anderson’s next film will be his first live-action project in five years, or at least since 2014's “The Grand Budapest Hotel.” This year, Anderson released the stop-motion treat “Isle of Dogs,” which underwhelmed at the box-office, but had critics more or less approving.
Read moreMovies Originally Trashed by Critics That Ended Up Classics
In Julian Schanbel's Vincent Van Gogh biopic, "At Eternity's Gate," a priest played by Mads Mikkelsen tells Van Gogh that his work, quite frankly, stinks and that it shouldn't be considered a 'painting,' or at least what the standard definition was back in the 1880s. Van Gogh responds by saying that he feels like he's painting for people that haven't been born yet. This got me thinking about all the great cinematic artists that didn't get their due until much later in life or even after their deaths. It's a very common thing, so much so that I stumbled upon so many classic films that were trashed by film critics upon their release that I decided to just limit it to the all-timers.
Read moreCarey Mulligan Talks ‘Wildlife,’ Not F*cking Up, Playing A Frightening Character & More [Interview]
Carey Mulligan wholly deserves awards attention in Paul Dano’s exquisite directorial debut “Wildlife.” As Jeanette, the self-destructive Middle America housewife that tries to break free from that time’s conventions of what a married woman should and shouldn’t do, Mulligan quietly expresses disillusionment, frustration and then, unabashed self-interest of her needs over her marriage and family. But it’s done so with a grace that we empathize with her. She’s not selfish, she’s a human being whose unfulfilled. Dano’s movie rarely spells this out, but it’s all communicated through powerfully interior performances and rock solid, minimalist filmmaking.
Read moreBill Maher Says Backlash Over His Stan Lee Comments ‘Proves My Point'
Bill Maher has addressed the backlash over his recent comments about Stan Lee's death. The Real Time HBO host was scorned by fans of the late Marvel icon after he wrote a blog post calling into question Lee's legacy and even going as far as blaming him for Donald Trump's election. Lee's company, POW! Entertainment, called Maher's comments "disgusting."
Read more‘The Girl in the Spider's Web' is Bombing Badly at the Box-Office
The real absolute disaster of the moment has got to be Fede Alvarez' "The Girl in the Spider's Web." Its budget, according to a few reports that I've read, ranges between the $40-$50M mark. Two weeks since its November 9th release, the film has only made $13M at the domestic box-office.
Read moreOscar Isaac Says ‘Star Wars: Episode IX’ Handles Carrie Fisher’s Death “In A Really Beautiful Way”
In a new interview with the Daily Beast Episode IX actor Oscar Isaac said the final chapter of the Star Wars saga “deals with [Fisher’s death] quite a bit. It’s a strange thing to be on the set and to be speaking of Leia and having Carrie not be around. There’s definitely some pain in that,”adding, “[‘Episode IX’] deals with the amazing character that Carrie created in a really beautiful way.”
Read more
Zack Snyder woke up in Toronto the morning after his premiere and did the one thing no filmmaker should ever do the morning after: he opened X.