Chris Evans has been a rather outspoken critic of President Donald Trump. He doubled down on his attacks recently, saying he would be “disappointed” in himself if he didn’t speak out against “dumb shit,” even if it means alienating half his audience.
Read moreWell, he shouldn't ...
How do you come to terms with sacrificing your artistic merit for the sake of a paycheck? That is, in fact, what Tim Burton has done these last few years, selling his soul to Disney, being their “pet weirdo” as it is described in the below Anne Thompson article for IndieWire.
Read moreChina's Removal of All Gay Dialogue and Scenes From ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ Confuses Audiences, Creates Plot Holes
Ah yes, the never ending, but successful, saga of “Bohemian Rhapsody.” The film finally opened in select Chinese theaters on March 22, of course the version that is being shown has removed any dialogue or scenes referring, explicitly or unexplicitly, to Freddie Mercury’s homosexuality. China has strict policies on exhibiting LGBTQ content. Ridley Scott’s “Alien: Covenant” was released in China without the kiss between Michael Fassbender and himself. Also, recent LGBTQ classics such as Ang Lee’s “Brokeback Mountain” and. Luca Guadagnino’s “Call Me By Your Name,” were, of course, banned completely from ever being show in the country.
Read moreJordan Peele: I Don't See Myself Casting White Dude as Lead...
“Us” filmmaker Jordan Peele wants to keep putting black faces on the screen in leading roles. "The way I look at it," he explained to THR, "I get to cast black people in my movies. I feel fortunate to be in this position where I can say to Universal, 'I want to make a $20 million horror movie with a black family.' And they say yes."
Read moreChicago Police Want Federal Investigation Into Prosecutor That Handled Smollett Case
The Jussie Smollett story has hit another bombshell twist. The criminal case against the “Empire” actor has been thrown out by a judge. What!? Smollett was being prosecuted for allegedly staging a hate crime attack on the morning of January 29.
Read moreTim Burton's ‘Dumbo' is Too Cutesy and Forgettable [Review]
Tim Burton and Screenwriter Ehren Kruger, who penned the catastrophic “Transformers: Age of Extinction,” have decided to turn “Dumbo,” an animated classic which ran for just 64-minutes, into a two-hour movie.
Read more‘Wounds' Is the Lamest Kind of Horror Psychodrama [Review]
Babak Anvari’s “Wounds” is a movie that tries to toss so many things at its audience, both shockingly surreal and bewilderingly flat, that it ends up crash-landing very early into its running time. Anvari gave us the excellent Iranian-horror allegory “Under the Shadow,” back in 2016 but this sophomore effort, having him shoot in America and in English for the first time, is a mess.
Read more‘Avengers: Endgame' Will Be Over Three Hours Long, Marvel's Longest Runtime
Make sure to go to bathroom before you watch “Avengers: Endgame,” especially if you have a sensitive bladder. If the 149 minutes of last year’s “Avengers: Infinity War” was the record-setter for a Marvel movie, that number will soon be broken by its follow-up which clocks in at 182 minutes. The news was confirmed by Fandango,
‘Us’ Scares Up $70 Million Opening Weekend [Box Office]
The big news, however, is, of course, the success of Jordan Peele’s “Us” at the week-end box-office. It is absolutely astounding to see an original horror movie make close to $70M on its opening weekend. Does this mean that Peele is now included in the shortlist of Hollywood directors that could make a movie successful just by having their name attached to the project? There aren’t many, James Cameron, Christopher Nolan, Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino and, yeah, now Peele belongs there.
Read more‘A Vigilante’ Abuse Survivor Olivia Wilde Seeks Bloody Retribution [Review]
Revenge fantasy in cinema will never go out of style, but in a more sensitive age, vigilante films without a thoughtful touch can meet their own swift and merciless end. Take Eli Roth‘s neo-conservative wet dream remake of “Death Wish,” recently savaged by audiences and critics for its soulless, unthinking vengeance. The masculine, gung-ho individualism of this genre, aggressively promoting Second Amendment rights to enact revenge, might have worked a few years prior, but today, feels tone deaf, dated and poorly-timed.
Read moreJim Jarmusch's Upcoming Zombie Film ‘The Dead Don’t Die' Will Lean More Towards Comedy Than Drama
Chloë Sevigny was interviewed by Collider, the topic of Jim Jarmusch’s next movie, “The Dead Don’t Die,” came into the conversation and, suffice to say, her description of it has us all very excited. The actress revealed that the film would center around an environmental catastrophe that sets off the zombie outbreak and that the film will lean more towards comedy that drama.
Read moreCan ‘Dumbo' Be Tim Burton's Artistic Comeback?
In the late 80s and all through the 90s Tim Burton found a way to make personal movies and, somehow, found a way to make them mainstream successes. Movies like “Edward Scissorhands,” “Ed Wood” and “Sleepy Hollow” were unique and different but struck a chord with the moviegoing public and critics. However, in the past 15 years or so, Burton has resorted to directing commercial movies that just don’t resemble those earlier, more personal projects.
Read moreNow That You've Seen Jordan Peele's ‘Us' ...
What do you think? Do you agree with my assessment that it knocks it out of the park for its first 100 minutes, but then loses steam in its last act? I still gave it a B+ because the rest of the film was, quite frankly, highly entertaining and managed to set aside its murky message to nevertheless provoke.
I wrote in my review:
“It’s all led by Duke and, especially, Nyong’o’s performances. The latter, an actress of considerably imposing talent, inflicts a real sense of haunting into Peele’s frames. Much like his main character in “Get Out,” Peele’s camera deep focuses on his lead’s eyes every chance he gets. And what eyes! Aided by cinematographer Mike Gioulakis, Peele gives his film a surreal and nightmarish look with pertinently memorable frames unveiled every few minutes. The color scheme here is pure dread, focusing especially on reds and browns.”
“With “Us” Peele confirms that he will not be a one-hit-wonder director. This latest effort lacks the socio-political and satirical undertones of “Get Out,” but as a filmmaker who can expertly stage horror, he is second-to-none — his talent for shot composition is quite frankly impressive for such a young filmmaker.”
The message in the film seems to be that we are our own worst enemy. Something that was also tackled in “Get Out,” but in more expansive and provocative ways.
The film carved up $29 million on Friday night, coming in above expectations and headed towards an impressive $67 million+ debut weekend. Congratulations must go out to Lupita Nyong’o, Winston Duke, Shahadi Wright Joseph, and Evan Alex. These are mightily impressive numbers for an R-rated horror movie.
Critics Refusing to Admit Craig Zahler’s “Dragged Across Concrete” is An Achievement
Armond White’s review of Craig Zahler‘s “Dragged Across Concrete” is one of the few honest assessments of what Zahler has accomplished with his third feature-length film [via National Review]:
Read moreBarbra Streisand Says Michael Jackson's Accusers ‘Were Thrilled to Be There,' the Sex Abuse ‘Didn't Kill Them' and That Jackson's ‘Sexual Needs Were His Sexual Needs'...
Let Barbara Streisand shoot herself in the foot and say things that should not be uttered in today’s day and age of political correctness and lack of free speech.
Read more‘Rocketman' Will Finally Get An R-Rating for Sex, Drug Scenes
After much controversy, Rocketman, Paramount’s Elton John biopic, will be keeping a gay sex scene between Taron Egerton’s Elton, and Richard Madden, who plays the singer’s former manager, John Reid. [via THR]
Read moreWhy Ingmar Bergman's Cinema Just Doesn't Cut It Anymore
[An inspiration for this writeup was no doubt Jonathan Rosenbaum’s NYT-commissioned Op Ed piece on Ingmar Bergman. I have decided to furthr expand his words and analyze this particularly problematic director.]
Read moreParamount Demanding A Gay Sex Scene Be Cut From Upcoming Elton John Biopic ‘Rocketman’
I’ve been hearing whispers that Dexter Fletcher’s upcoming Elton John biopic “Rocketman” will be headed to Cannes.
Read moreTerry Gilliam: Superhero Films Are “Boring” But ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ “Made Me Smile”
The shocking admission comes after the filmmaker has continuously bashed Marvel and DC movies.
Read moreTrailer for Brian De Palma’s Terrorist Thriller ‘Domino’
Consider me disappointed with the by-the-books trailer that has just been released for Brian De Palma’s upcoming terrorist thriller “Domino.”
Read more
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.