“Unplanned” reached #4 at the domestic Box Office this past weekend —all this despite, and this is a curious controversy, the film’s official Twitter Handle (@UnplannedMovie) inexplicably being suspended on late Saturday morning. According to numerous sources, once the suspension stopped, the film’s Twitter account went from having thousands of followers to barely any, more specifically a scant 180.
Read moreTim Burton's ‘Dumbo' Flattens at Box-Office
Tim Burton‘s Dumbo underwhelmed at the box-office with a lousy, by Disney standards, $45 million domestic intake. The original “Dumbo” is nearly 78-years-old, its fanbase isn’t as apparent as say “Beauty and the Beast” or “The Lion King,” which millennial and Gen X audiences grew up on.
Burton’s film might not even hit $100M.
Nicolas Cage claims he was too drunk to understand his Vegas wedding, files for annulment
The world of Nicolas Cage is a dark, comedic and fascinating one.
Take for example the weekend he just had, where he filed for an annulment just four days after getting married in Las Vegas.
According to court records, Cage requested the annulment citing reasons that included being too drunk to understand his actions when he married girlfriend Erika Koike, claiming that he and Koike drank “to the point of intoxication” before the wedding Saturday.
The 55-year-old Cage argues he wasn’t aware of Koike’s “relationship with another person.”
This was/is the fourth marriage of the Oscar-winning actor.
Trailer for ‘The Dead Don't Die': Jim Jarmusch's Deadpan Zombie Comedy
Consider me surprised by the deadpan sense of comedic humor Jim Jarmusch is aiming for here, at least judging by the just-released trailer for his upcoming “The Dead Don’t Die.”
Read more#MeToo Themed Israeli Film ‘Working Woman' Is Too On-The-Nose But Has the Power to Shake You [Review]
Israeli director, not to mention award-winning documentarian, Michal Aviad’s “Working Woman” is a movie that feels and, very much, wants to be relevant, but in its attempt to depict a situation which is heavily #MeToo it doesn’t manage to sidestep its biggest problem; the obviousness of it all.
Read moreWhy I Haven't Reviewed Harmony Korine's ‘Beach Bum'
I tried, I really tried, but, despite multiple requests to publicists, I have still not found a way to watch Harmony Korine’s “Beach Bum.” I begged, I pleaded, but to no avail, it seems like Neon does not wantcritics to watch Korine’s first film since his surreal 2013 film “Spring Breakers.” Fine, I get it, ever since its SXSW premiere in March the movie has been plagued by less-than-positive reviews, but so was ‘Breakers’ and I dug that film. Suffice to say, I will probably have to buy a ticket to this one and report back. To be continued …
Chris Rock Rips Jussie at NAACP Awards: ‘What the Hell was He Thinking?’
The NAACP laid down a strict rule for last night’s Image Awards: Don’t mention Jussie. Chris Rock clearly didn’t get the memo as he ripped through the ”Empire” star, even admitting he had lost his respect.
Read more‘Bond 25’ To Be Shot In IMAX By Cinematographer Linus Sandgren ('First Man', 'La La Land'), Becoming The First James Bond Film Shot In Large-Format
Cary Fukunaga (“True Detective,” “Sin Nombre”)“directing Bond 25 was already something to look forward to, but adding in Oscar-winning cinematographer Linus Sandgren (“La La Land”) is the icing on top.
Read more‘Child’s Play’: Mark Hamill Will Be The Voice Of Chucky the Killer Doll In Remake
I’m now 100% on board.
According to Deadline, Mark Hamill is going to voice Chuck the killer doll in the upcoming remake of “Child’s Play.” Yes, Luke Skywalker will provide the voice of the iconic horror character in the Orion Pictures revival of the franchise.
Hamill joins Aubrey Plaza, Gabriel Bateman, and Brian Tyree Henry in the “contemporary re-imagining” of the 1988 horror movie. “If you’re wondering who’s going to play Chucky in the new Child’s Play,” the bearded Hamill said, “you’re looking at him.”
Lupita Nyong’o under fire from disability groups for ‘evil' voice in ‘Us'
Jordan Peele’s "Us" has made $100M thus far at the box-office, it’s only been out for 10 days now. That is mightily impressive. However, there are groups of people that have taken offense to the film, specifically disability organizations that are criticizing Lupita Nyong’o’s choice of voice for her evil doppelganger, Red, in the film.
Read moreIlana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson’s Landmark ‘Broad City' Wimped Out in Its Final Season But Let's Remember the Good Times
Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson’s “Broad City” came to end this past Thursday night with an emotional but somewhat underwhelming episode. In fact, this entire fifth and final season felt underwhelming, the girls went out with a whimper instead of a bang. And so, let’s focus on the positive;
Read moreLiam Neeson Issues New Apology: I Hurt Many People.
Kent Jones' ‘Diane' is a Morose and Slight Depiction of a Middle-Aged Woman [Review]
“Diane,” the fiction directing debut of critic/film historian Kent Jones, the longtime film critic and current director of the New York Film Festival, is driven by an excellent performance from Mary Kay Place. However, this is a fairly perceptive but incredibly slight drama looking for an identity throughout its morose and uninvolving 96 minutes.
Read moreThe Legendary Agnès Varda Passes at the Age of 90
The queen has passed!
Agnès Varda, the legendary nouvelle vague filmmaker of such greats as “Cleo From 5 to 7, “ “Vagabond, “ and “Faces Places” has sadly passed into the ether at age 90.
A statement (via the Guardian) from her family reads, “The director and artist Agnès Varda died at her home on the night of Thursday, March 29, of complications from cancer. She was surrounded by her family and friends.”
The French New Wave was a boys club – that is until a young Agnès Varda showed up to shake the party. We all know “Breathless”, “The 400 Blows”, “Contempt” and “Hiroshima Mon Amour”, but no French New Wave top five could be complete without “Cléo de 5 à 7″ a rich absorbing look at a woman embracing death and looking into the unknown. The film is a staple of feminist filmmaking and introduced to us a character that we could eerily relate to. Awaiting the results of a medical exam that could potentially lead to a stomach cancer diagnosis, Cleo wanders around the streets of Paris as themes of existentialism and mortality get played out. It’s a groundbreaking movie that gave way to one of the most iconic and important female voices in cinematic history. The boys club was forever shaken.
Far-removed from her Nouvelle Vague heydays, Agnès Varda focused on documentaries in the later part of her career, including “Faces Places” and “The Gleaners and I.” Varda didn’t seem to want to stop making movies either, she premiered “Varda by Agnes” - another non-fiction film- earlier this year at the Berlin Film Festival, for which she said was going to be her final statement due to illness.
When Losers Act Like Winners
Baz Luhrmann to Direct Tom Hanks in Upcoming Elvis Presley. What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
Of course, we all knew that “Bohemian Rhapsody” would just kick-start a whirlwind of Hollywood rock biopics.
Tom Hanks is in negotiations to play Elvis Presley’s manager Colonel Tom Parker. Baz Luhrmann is set to direct the biopic about Presley, which is from a script by “Fifty Shades of Grey” scribe Kelly Marcel.
Wait? What?! Baz Luhrmann? He hasn’t directed a feature-length film since 2013’s “The Great Gatsby.” Before that he had a time-capsule-worthy bomb titled “Australia”? Remember that one? Luhrmann’s claim to fame will always be 2001’s “Moulin Rouge” a frenetic and daring musical that took so many risks, but worked, for the most part. Also, to Gen X-ers at least, 1996’s “Romeo & Juliet” is some kind of classic, maybe the first time Leonardo DiCaprio was noticed by the mainstream before being catapulted to fame the following year with “Titanic.” The last we heard from Luhrmann was when he directed the two seasons from the 2016-2017 Netlfix series “The Get Down,” which was about the beginnings of disco.
According to Variety, Luhrmann wants a newcomer for the role of Presley and he has begun the casting process. The hope is for the as-of-yet-untitled film to start shooting this year.
John Carpenter to Be Honored at Cannes
John Carpenter will be honored by the French Directors' Guild with this year's Carrosse d'Or, the Golden Coach prize, during the Directors' Fortnight section in Cannes. The honor will be handed out on May 15. I will be there This year's Cannes Film Festival happens May 14-25.
Read moreJoel Coen's Next Movie Will Be Adaptation of ‘Macbeth' Starring Denzel and Frances McDormand.
I am an unabashed Coen-head. I love them. They are the best American filmmakers of the last 30 years. I’m not even exaggerating. I’ll just name the classics: “Fargo,” “Barton Fink,” “The Big Lebowski,” “No Country For Old Men.” Ok, fine, the semi-classics are “Inside Llewyn Davis,” “A Serious Man,” “Miller’ Crossing,” and “Raising Arizona,” “Burn After Reading.” Then there’s just the plain great movies: “O Brother Where Art Thou,” “The Man Who Wasn’t There,” “Burn After Reading,” and “Blood Simple.”
Read moreCannes 2019: Jim Jarmusch's "The Dead Don't Die" Will Be Released in June. Hmm ...
I have had a hit and miss vibe with Jim Jarmusch for a few decades now, but I do have to say I absolutely adore “Stranger Than Paradise,” “Down By Law,” Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai,” “Broken Flowers” and “Paterson.” Those are incredible movies. (I’m still iffy about “Dead Man” but a rewatch is in order)
Read more‘Heathers' Hasn't Aged Well, But It's One of the Most Influential Movies Ever Made
A New Yorker article would like to tell you that Michael Lehmann’s “Heathers” has aged magnificently since its landmark debut back in 1989, but it hasn’t. At the time it was seen as an incredibly fresh dissection of the teen movie, an antagonist to the John Hughes movement of the ‘80s, which was slowly but surely was dying due to its all-too-facile outlook on teenagers. “Heathers” hit a nerve in America, it sought to destroy the archetypes of the teen movie and that it did. Copycats emerged, some much better movies as well, but it’s Lehmann’s vision which kick-started it. That still doesn’t mean that watching “Heathers” today, which I again saw recently, makes for a fresh experience. In fact, it has become such an important and copied film in pop culture that almost everything it does feels a little too obvious and predictable. That’s how important “Heathers” was to America.
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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.