Director Matt Reeves is putting finishing touches on his ‘Batman’ film, finalizing pre-production before shooting begins later this month. Titled, “The Batman,” or at least for now as Reeves said earlier last week, the DC Film is set to be released on June 25th, 2021 release. We also know that Ben Affleck will not be back to play the caped crusader, tweeting back on January 30th, “ Excited for #TheBatman in Summer 2021 and to see @MattReevesLA vision come to life.”
Read moreAs if Villeneuve's “Dune" wasn't already stacked with talent ...
Enter Jason Momoa who has been confirmed to join the cast of Denis Villeneuve’s film adaptation of Frank Herbert’s bestselling novel. Momoa joins an already impressive cast which includes Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Dave Bautista, Stellan Skarsgård, Charlotte Rampling, Javier Bardem, and Josh Brolin.
Pigtails notwithstanding, Momoa adds to the testosterone-heavy allure Villeneuve’s film seems to have in abundance.
Chaos at the DCEU: Jared Leto’s Joker Movies Cancelled at DC Films
Jared Leto‘s short-lived time as the Joker is nearing its end, according to Forbes.
James Gunn’s upcoming “Suicide Squad” is rumored to not have Jared Leto’s Joker. Not just that, the unofficially tilted ‘Mad Love’-type Joker and Harley Quinn film has also been cancelled, again according to Forbes. That film looked promising considering Glenn Ficarra and John Requa were the writer/directing team behind it.
Gunn’s “The Suicide Squad” will be keeping Will Smith and Jai Courtney, but no one else, including Harley Quinn. Call it a soft-rebooting, with most of the old squad nixed.
The Leto Joker spin-off movie not happening is unsurprising, especially considering that Todd Phillips‘ “The Joker” with Joaquin Phoenix will be released this October and hype surrounding it couldn’t be higher than it is.
The DCEU is in the midst of major change, Henry Cavill is done as Superman. Ben Affleck is certainly done as Batman. The whole thing is a charade, with plenty of questions left unanswered. There doesn’t seem to be a clear path in what they want as an organization, this is what we like to call a shitshow, my friends.
“Russian Doll" Is Wry, Inventive and Acerbically Original Television
“Russia Doll” is a new spin on the time-loop story which was popularized by “Groundhog Day” more than 25 years ago. That film’s concept caught on to the point where there is now a film, every year or so, which uses the gimmick. It all has to do with the notion of "If I had that to do over, I'd do it differently.” Most recently, and most successfully, was a jump towards sci-fi in which “Edge of Tomorrow” and “Source Code” used it in ways that brought a sense of newness to the gimmick, nevertheless, it’s a concept that still has many rolling their eyes whenever used, check out the less-than-successful YA flick ‘Before I Fall.”
Read moreScorsese, Tarantino and More Protest Academy Cinematography Decision
NAACP President Criticizes ‘Green Book’ for ‘False Storyline' & ‘Negative Stereotype’
“Green Book” is a major frontrunner to win the Oscar for Best Picture, but the amount of controversy surrounding the film seems to not be stopping.
Read moreRian Johnson's Star Wars Trilogy Reportedly No Longer Happening, According to Multiple Sources
The Cast For Denis Villeneuve's “Dune" Is Ridiculously Top-Notch
Despite middling box-office, Denis Villeneuve’s “Blade Runner 2049” pleased plenty, which only added to the Quebecois director’s impressive Hollywood resume thus far into his career. I’m not even counting his great French Canadian films, 2010’s “Incendies,” 2009’s “Polytechnique” and 2000’s “Maelstrom” to be precise - no, what Villeneuve has accomplished since his 2013’s Hollywood debut “Prisoners” is, quite frankly, astounding in terms of scope, ambition and technical prowess. Whether you like his movies or not, there are shades of absolute technical brilliance in “Arrival,” Sicario” and “Blade Runner 2049.” Despite screenplay lapses, they are the work of an artist that is a master at creating gloomy atmosphere.
Read more“Black Mirror: Bandersnatch” was used as a Netflix data mining experiment
I remember a lot of people were around on social media that “Black Mirror: Bandersnatch” was a way for Netflix to collect viewers' "Black Mirror" choices as data for future Netflix original releases. After all, the interactive choose-your-own-adventure release had nearly one trillion different storytelling combinations. Well, guess what folks? Turns out, it was really happening. Apparently, Netflix saved and collected every choice viewers made in ‘Black Mirror: Bandersnatch’
Read moreSpike Lee's Next Movie Will Be Vietnam Veterans Drama ‘Da 5 Bloods’ At Netflix
Let’s see how Spike Lee does with his next few movies. The “BlacKkKlansman” director had a solid outing with the aforementioned movie last year, which was deemed a comeback of sorts after a rough 10-year stretch of films which included “Miracle at St. Anna,” “Red Hook Summer,” “Oldboy,” “Da Sweet Blood of Jesus” and, although it had its fans, but not I, “Chiraq.” Those were, to me at least, the five worst Spike Lee joints of his career.
Read moreVince Gilligan’s ‘Breaking Bad’ Sequel Will Premiere on Netflix
“Velvet Buzzsaw" Is a Pathetic Horror-Satire of the L.A. Art World [Review]
I had totally forgotten that Dan Gilory’s “Velvet Buzzsaw” was released on Netflix until I scrolled through the streaming giant’s service this past week. I had seen it at its world premiere on January 27th at the Sundance Film Festival.
Read moreOf Course, Backlash Occurs Over Oscar's Editing and Cinematography axing
Of all the categories that could be put on the commercial-break back burner, you would think the Academy would have the decency to air the winner of the Cinematography award, an important part of the visual creative process, maybe only second to the director, and a technical aspect of film which has become more popular in recent years due to the emergence into the mainstream of such stalwarts as Emmanuel Lubezski and Roger Deakins. Blasphemy.
Read moreBefore she sells her soul to Disney, “The Rider" director Chloe Zhao has one final statement to make.
Before “The Rider” director Chloe Zhao helms the big screen adaptation of Jack Kirby’s “The Eternals” for Marvel and Disney, she will be going back to the American west for a final artful statement.
Read moreAziz Ansari on Accusation against him: “It’s a terrifying thing to talk about."
What happened to Aziz Ansari was unfair. In the midst of the Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey horror stories there was a sort of witch hunt for any man who may have elicited bad behavior towards women in the past. James Franco’s awkward flirting on the set of his movies had the actor shunned, and another unfortunate case was that of Ansari’s.
Read moreTodd Field’s ‘The Creed of Violence’ Reportedly Back in Production
Writer-Director Todd Field hasn’t made a film since “Little Children” (2006) and, before that, his incendiary debut “In the Bedroom” (2001). Whatever happened to him since 2006 is a mystery to me. Both films garnered eight Oscar nominations in total, he was heralded as a major new voice and then poof he was gone. What happened? I’m not sure. Something did. Either he was blackballed in the industry, for some reason, or, more realistically, he just had projects falling by the wayside due to the changing dynamics of the studio system ever since 2008’s “Iron Man” and “The Dark Knight” hit pay dirt and reshaped the way Hollywood thinks.
Read moreOscar Poker: Sundance 2019
“I had a discussion with Hollywood-Elsewhere’s Jeffrey Wells about the continuing Best Picture puzzlement, the fact that only two out of 25 Gold Derby know-it-alls are picking Green Book to win at this stage, the mysterious disappearance of Vox Lux, the coming importance of Lulu Wang‘s The Farewell, the inescapable impact of the forthcoming Leaving Neverland when it plays on HBO in early March, the fact that Nicole Kidman‘s raspy-voiced Destroyerperformance never made it into the Oscar conversation and other pressing matters.”
[Note: This conversation has no musical intro, no bells and whistles….just straight talk.]
“Holiday" Is an Immensely Impressive Debut [Review]
The trophy girlfriend of a small-time drug lord is caught up in a web of luxury and violence in the port city of Bodrum on the Turkish Riviera. The terrible things men do to women and that women allow men to do to them. Don’t mistake this provocative powerhouse for anything but the announcement of a new cinematic talent. Isabella Eklof’s “Holiday” is bound to provoke polarizing reactions. It’s a tough watch, a film that means to get under your skin and that it does. featuring one of the most graphic rape sequences ever committed to screen, the film is subtle on plot, never providing any definitive answers, but renders a damn-near damning finale. It’s not for the faint of heart, but in the era of #MeToo this is a film that deserves to exist, asking us questions about masculine and feminine roles in society, all done in uber-realist, near claustrophobic, fashion. [B+]
Vanity Fair's Questionable Selections In Their “25 Most Influential Movie Scenes of the Past 25 Years” List
Vanity Fair decided to post “The 25 Most Influential Movie Scenes of the Past 25 Years.” I won’t mention the worthy additions, you can see the article for yourself, done in such a visually engaging way. No, but I do want to mention the questionable inclusions such as what the “Toy Story” opening scene is doing there, ditto the axe-murder scene in “American Psycho,” Denzel Washington’s “King Kong ain’t got shit on me” diatribe in “Training Day,’ Gollum vs. Smeagal in “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers,” but more curiously, who in their right minds think that Diane Keaton crying as she writes a play in “Something’s Gotta Give,” Edward meeting Bella in “Twlight” and the “chosen one” scene in “Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith” are worthy of the cinematic time-capsule?
Are You F****ng Serious?! Academy's Commercial Break Oscar Categories will include Best Cinematography.
It’s no secret that the academy are trying to produce the best, most commercial-friendly Oscar telecast imaginable. After all, that’s why they tried to nab Chris Rock and Dwayne Johnson as hosts of the whole megilah, which turned out to be a total fail due to backlash, of the former’s past tweets. Ditto the failed Best Popular Oscar category which was quickly axed this past September and was, admit it, a rating-grabbing attempt.
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The short version: "Woman Unknown" was a compromise. The jury deadlocked over "Possible Love" and "NAZA," not able to com to terms, fell back on their #3, May el-Toukhy's film.