The always-insightful Robert Weide has a new Woody Allen defense titled “The Truth About Woody Allen (Part II)“, which was posted on 4.8.19. If you haven’t read Weide’s other knowledgeable, first-hand defenses of Allen I highly recommend them.
Read moreZoe Saldana Says Her Mom Keeps Confusing Her With Thandie Newton
I hate to admit it, but I have, just a few times, mistaken Zoe Saldana for her actress Thandie Newton, they do have similar facial features, but eventually I caught on with the differences, it’s now hard for me to not distinguish them apart. However, I do feel less shameful about that confusion today, because it was revealed that even Saldana’s own mother regularly confused her for Newton, that’s what the “Guardians of the Galaxy” star told James Corden when she visited “The Late Late Show” on Tuesday.
"My mom still thinks that I'm in “Westworld," she said, referring to the HBO series, which Newton stars in, "I'm like, 'Years ago you thought that I was in Traffic. Mom, you did not give birth to Thandie Newton.'"
No matter how many times Saldana repeatedly told her mother that she was not on “Westworld,” her mother still continued to confuse her for Newton "She was like, 'Well, your show is on HBO.' I'm like, 'Which one?' She's like, 'Westworld,'" adding,. "I said, 'When are you going to understand I'm not Thandie Newton?'"
The actress said that she met Newton a few years ago at the Golden Globes. "I hugged her and I kind of scared her because I didn't tell her why I was invading her space, I was just like, 'Oh my God. Please tell me that people confuse you with me.' She was like, 'Who are you?'"
Despite that awkward first meeting, Newton and Saldana are now friends. "We text now. We're friends," she said.
Mark Hamill: Leia, Luke and Han Deserved to Have A Scene Together in ‘The Force Awakens'
Mark Hamill is an automatic go-to for World of Reel. Whenever the guy opens his mouth we tend to cover the outrageously honest stuff he says. Interviewed during the THR podcast, complained that he didn’t like how he was introduced in the "The Force Awakens” and how he was, eventually, killed in “The Last Jedi.”
Read more‘Dogman’: One of the Year's Best Movies [Cannes Review]
Following two Cannes efforts both met politely, but a little meso meso by critics, the comedy “Reality” and the dark fantasy of “Tale Of Tales,” Italian filmmaker Matteo Garrone returns to the crime genre that launched his career in 2008 (“Gomorrah“) with the equally disturbing “Dogman.” Yet, instead of simply returning to the comfortable well that yielded his best notices, Garrone looks at the seed of violence through another lens; not the pervasive malignancy of mafia corruption, but a rather an unsettling, malevolent individual perpetrating his own brand of terror. A hyper-realistic urban tragedy “Dogman” is ferocious and in its own way, much more frightening than “Gomorrah.”
Read moreCannes 2019: Jarmusch Confirmed as Opener. Larrain's ‘Ema' Bought by Netflix. Tarantino Might Not Make it in Time.
We’re getting down to the final hours when it comes to the Cannes Film Festival. Speculating these past few months has been fun, but, when all is said and done, the official lineup announcement is set to happen on April 18th. However, a few breaking items for your convenience on this Wednesday afternoon.
Read moreJ.J. Abrams Says He Initially Turned Down ‘Star Wars: Episode IX’
I'm all for JJ Abrams returning to direct the ninth and final chapter of the Skywalker saga. But can we please point out the elephant in the room when it comes to the failure of this Disney-fied version of Star Wars? The fact that there was no apparent overarching planned story. Is it just me or does it look like there’s a brand new creative team in place for each chapter and they were given carte-blanche to do whatever they felt like doing with the story and characters? If I hadn’t known before watching it, I would have barely guessed that “The Last Jedi” was a sequel to “The Force Awakens.” Thematically, visually, dialogue-wise, it all felt uncorrelated. That, to me, will be the lasting legacy of this trilogy. Let’s hope Abrams can somehow find a way to bring it all back home.
Read moreOliver Stone Was Once A Formidable Director
Jeffrey Wells has a nice little conversation-starter over at Hollywood-Elsewhere about Oliver Stone:
Read moreKevin Feige: ‘It Will Be a Very Long Time’ Until X-Men Join the MCU
‘Girls of the Sun' Has Harrowing Action, But is Bogged Down By Speechifying [Review]
Bahar (Golshifteh Farahani) is the leader of an all-female battalion of Iraqi and Syrian women, who escaped kidnapping at the hands of an Islamic terrorist group and are planning their revenge. Mathilde (Emmanuelle Bercot), a veteran war reporter, with an eyepatch no less, follows Bahar and her warriors in Kurdistan where they try to take back their invaded village from the terrorists.
Read moreJoe and Jane Popcorn adored ‘Green Book'
With the sole exception of journalist friends, I have not met a single “normal” moviegoer that saw “Green Book” and didn’t fall for its charms. If you noticed, last year I was crusading, defending if you will, Peter Farrelly’s film, on a daily basis, because I blocked all the toxic hysteria and saw the film for what it truly was: A crowd-pleaser of the highest order that audiences would absolutely adore. I was also defending it for what it wasn’t, especially since most supposedly progressive-minded film critics decided to shoot darts at it for not accurately portraying race relations in America. The terms “white savior” and “magical negro” were used to disavow the film.
Read more‘Avengers: Endgame' and the Dangers of Expectations
It’s rather debatable if any of these MCU movies will age well. Yes, they are landmark moments of cinema, solely for the way Marvel Head Kevin Feige managed to set-up all 20 of these movies in a single well-connected and continuum-like universe.
Read moreBest Movies of 2019 So Far ...
OK, fine, I’ll budge. Many readers of this site love lists, understandably so, and there have been a few emails I’ve gotten about what the best movies of 2019 have been so far. I won’t list the stuff I saw at Sundance, I’ll just list the movies that have already been released, the cutoff date is April 30th just to give me a little room to manoeuvre.
Dogman (Matteo Garone)
Dragged Across Concrete (Craig Zahler)
Gloria Bell (Sebastien Lelio)
High Life (Claire Denis)
Us (Jordan Peele)
The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (Terry Gilliam)
Ash is Purest White (Jia Zhangke)
Hail Satan (Penny Lane)
Fyre (Chris Smith)
Avengers: Endgame (Joe and Anthony Russo)
Booksmart (Olivia Wilde)
Transit (Christian Petzoldt)
Max Minghella’s Directorial Debut ‘Teen Spirit’ Falls Flat Despite A Strong Elle Fanning Performance [Review]
Music competition shows have been a TV mainstay in America ever since the Brits imported “American Idol” in the early-2000s, which in turn kickstarted a slew of copycats, including NBC’s incredibly popular “The Voice.” Eventually, movies based on the competitive nature of these shows (“American Dreamz” and “Pitch Perfect“) were made, creating a genre which, when successful, can be a biting satire of our culture’s obsession with fame.
Read more‘The Man Who Killed Don Quixote' Is A Surreal and Absurdist Comeback for Terry Gilliam [Review]
Make no mistake about it, “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote” is a love letter to art, to those that dare dream and how it can also lead us to madness, but the best most joyous kind.
Read more‘Stuber' Trailer: Kumail Nanjiani and Dave Bautista Star in Buddy-Cop Comedy
“Stuber,” which world premiered at SXSW last March, stars Kumail Nanjiani and Dave Bautista in, what seems to be, an action-comedy take on Michael Mann’s ‘Collateral.” The newly released trailer has gags that made me chuckle, the chemistry between the two actors will be the driving force of this film, let’s hope it can continue to work for 90 minutes.
Read more‘Parasite’ Trailer: Bong Joon-ho’s Latest Expected to Have Cannes Debut
I do not know Korean but this trailer for Bong Joon-Ho’s “Parasite” looks wild. Bong Joon-ho is the South Korean director that gave us“Snowpiercer,” “Okja,” and “The Host,” if that’s not enough to whet your appetite for “Parasite,” then I don’t know what will.
Read moreBox-Office: ‘Shazam' Takes Top Spot; Anti-Abortion Film ‘Unplanned' Continues to Surprise
I’ve been following, with a very close eye, the surprising success of anti-abortion movie “Unplanned” at the American box-office and, suffice to say, It’s been keeping its strong momentum intact, especially in bible-belt states. By all accounts, industry experts are flabbergasted by the success of this movie, which finished in the 8th spot this weekend with a very respectable $3.2 million, after expanding to 1,515 screens.
Read moreChristopher Nolan's Mysterious New Movie Said To Be Globe Spanning Sci-Fi About Time Continuum; ‘North By Northwest' Meets ‘Inception'?
There have been many rumors as to what Christopher Nolan’s next film, set to be released in 2020, would be about, with many rumors having been debunked already. People have been shooting these rumors left and right and, hoping one of them sticks, and yet, we still don’t what the damn thing is about. All we know is that the screenplay is so secretive that its star, Robert Pattinson, had to be locked up in a room to read the damn thing. He couldn’t bring a physical copy home.
Read moreTrailer for Nicolas Winding Refn's ‘Too Old to Die Young'
Nicolas Winding Refn seems to have cornered himself in an unwinnable dilemma after the success of 2011’s “Drive.” Before that film’s resounding critical and commercial success, Refn was mostly an unheralded cult filmmaker with a knack for extreme violence. That reputation fit him perfectly.
Read moreWhat Ang Lee and James Cameron are doing to advance cinema
Ang Lee’s new movie “Gemini Man” was shot in 120fps/4k/3D format. The High Frame Rate is said to be the “most pristine and immersive format” in movies. It was attempted by Lee (“Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk”) and Peter Jackson (“The Hobbit”) in the past, but the technology has gotten better, to the point where the writer-director is convinced that he’s on to something very special here. At CinemaCon last week, presenting footage from “Gemini Man,” Lee urged other filmmakers to follow in his steps and explore new tech advances with the camera.
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Do you really think Ellison fired Gunn before he saw a rough cut of "Man of Tomorrow"? No chance. Clearly, whatever he saw didn't impress him.