Leave it to the French to philosophize about Twitter and E-books. That's exactly what Olivier Assayas' "Non-Fiction" dares to do and, for the most part, this small little trifle of a film actually works. Coming off his brilliant "Personal Shopper," Assayas decides to make a more relaxing film this time around. This intermingling of relationships and friendships, set in the publishing world, is just an excuse for Assayas to update Rohmer for the 21st century, but in a minor key.
Read moreIn ‘Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile' the Devil is the Charmer [Review]
Award-winning documentary filmmaker Joe Berlinger and late collaborator Bruce Sinofsky were always interested in making films about the way our justice, or injustice, system works; the perpetrators, the victims, the fascination was there seeped into every frame of “Brother’s Keeper” and “Paradise Lost.” However, in “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile,” Berlinger decides to turn his camera towards the charismatic killer and the way evil can easily be shaded by charm.
Read moreCritics Poll: ‘Mad Max: Fury Road' Named Best Movie of the 2010s
250 critics, programmers, academics, and distributors have spoken.
Read moreCritics Poll: Top 75 Movies of the Decade
The full top 75.
Read more‘Boyz n the Hood' Director John Singleton passes away ...
Variety reported this afternoon that director John Singleton died after being taken off life support. Singleton was 51.
Read moreCannes Jury Will Include Elle Fanning, Yorgos Lanthimos, Paweł Pawlikowski, Kelly Reichardt & More
The jury has been announced for the 2019 Festival de Cannes and this year’s president, Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu, will have a very nice jury putting him to the task to make the right decisions.
The “Birdman” and “The Revenant” director will be joined by Elle Fanning, Maimouna N’Diaye, Kelly Reichardt, Enki Bilal, Alice Rohrwacher, Robin Campillo, Yorgos Lanthimos, and Paweł Pawlikowski.
Jean-Luc Godard Says He's Working on His Next Film, A Yellow-Vest Drama
88-year-old Jean-Luc Godard has revealed that he is working on a new movie. This all confirms what I have long suspected, that his latest feature “The Image Book” was not going to be his swan song. Of course not, the guy lives to make films, why would he just quit like that? If anything, the creative process is giving him meaning and purpose in his twilight years, much like Woody Allen, actually.
Read moreNo Screenings or Trailer For James Gray's ‘Ad Astra' Spells Trouble for Upcoming May Release
I am not sure what is going on with 20th Century Fox/Disney’s upcoming James Gray-directed “Ad Astra” —an arthouse sci-fi movie, which is supposed to open on May 24th. Many of the film journalists that create buzz around a film will probably be at Cannes between 5.10 thru, at the very least, 5.12, so when can Gray’s film actually screen locally for that press corp? A week before its release? Not a legitimate plan to create buzz.
Read moreThe Participants
Simon Abrams (RogerEbert)
Certified Copy
It's Such a Beautiful Day
Last of the Unjust
Night Across the Street
Under the Skin
Cannes Classics Offers A Few Curiosities
Cannes Classics selections are not on top of my must-see list whenever I attend the Cannes Film Festival — I’ll attend a screening here and there, such as I did last year with Christopher Nolan presenting his own restored 70mm version of “2001: A Space Odyssey.” Almost everything that is shown in this Cannes sidebar is restored in 4K, that is a major sell for many people, I’m not necessarily one of them. So which of this year’s titles might I report back on?
Read moreWill Disney's Upcoming Live-Action ‘Aladdin' Disappoint At the Box-Office?
Is it just me or is the ridicule being thrown at Disney’s upcoming live-action “Aladdin” worrying Disney? In terms of box-office prospects, at the very least. If anything, it seems, to me at least, that people have already looked past “Aladdin” and are now looking to “The Lion King” as the next Disney ticket they will buy.
Read moreYou Should Not Be Celebrating the $1.2 Billion “Avengers: Endgame” Made This Weekend
The mega-billion dollar conglomerate that is Disney has just taken a major step in taking over the world of movies further this past weekend, that is if they even haven’t already. “Avengers: Endgame” made $350 million domestically and $1.2 billon worldwide this past weekend.
Read moreSigourney Weaver Surprises the Cast of the Gone-Viral High School ‘Alien' Play
In case you didn’t hear, there’s this stage adaptation of the original “Alien” movie that has gone viral. Performed by a New Jersey high school drama program, the play was so well-made that it blew up on YouTube and Twitter. You should check out the filmed YouTube video of the show (below) it really is something, complete with locally sourced props and an impressively convincing xenomorph.
Read moreTop 10 Worst Movies Based On Real Life Events
I found this little nugget that I wrote back in the day, when I used to work for WatchMojo and had a little more say in how the lists were chosen. This is all me. I approve of every choice and every word.
Read moreEverything you need to know about The Jungle Book 2
Rudyard Kipling, the author of the seminal poem on masculinity ‘If’ was also responsible for one of the most loved stories of modern times – The Jungle Book. In 1893 Kipling released his first Jungle Book story which introduced the world to Mowgli & co.
Read more‘Monos Is A Latin-American ‘Lord of the Flies' [IFFBoston Review]
“Monos” came out of nowhere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, debuting in the, usually ignored, World Cinema competition. And yet, this surreal dive into the mountains of a war-torn Columbia is the work of a new talent filled with potential, even when he sometimes swings and misses with his mad ambitions. “Monos” has a coalition of eight child soldiers having to take care of an American hostage and a sacred cow, all atop a mountainous peak. However, as with all stories of a small group of people stationed in a claustrophobic setting, power struggles do occur. The setting is stunning, stretching literally above the clouds, making this a film that benefits from such a dreamy set of locations. There also is no main character, all eight soldiers share the same amount of screen time. It’s all beautifully rendered by director Alejandro Lendes who uses the landscapes at his disposal, with (mostly) non-professional actors, to give us a sort of Jodorowsky-esque take on “Lord of the Flies.” It does, somewhat, add-up. Lendes’ mad ambitions, and his strategy to mix the real and the surreal into the poverty-stricken and corrupt nature of his native country, turn out to be fairly potent mixes, but this is clearly the work of a talent that hasn’t hit his stride yet.
Mark Hamill Tweets Fake Picture About Disney's “Missed Opportunity" at Reuniting Han, Lando, Leia and Luke
Mark Hamill is an automatic go-to for World of Reel. Whenever the guy opens his mouth we tend to cover the outrageously honest things he says. Hamill just tweeted away a “what if” scenario on Twitter with the hashtag #MissedOpportunies. A reunion, of-sorts, between Han, Lando, Leia and Luke. Oh, what could have been.
Read more‘Murder Mystery' Trailer: I just Can't Defend Adam Sandler Anymore
There was a time when I really did try to defend Adam Sandler, back in the late ‘90s and early 00’s. I was trying to get people to truly appreciate and understand the sheer Jerry Lewis-like brilliance of the neurotic Jewish schlub in "The Waterboy," "Billy Madison," "Happy Gilmore," "The Wedding Singer," "Punch-Drunk Love" "50 First Dates," and, even, "Big Daddy." Those days seem to be gone. With the exception of 2012’s "That's My Boy," which seemed to harken back to his comedic glory days of the '90s — yes I am defending that movie ... I mean, please do watch it, it's a hoot. Alas, Sandler has been stuck in the kind of cinematic hell that makes me almost regret defending him some 20 odd years ago.
Read more‘Young Ahmed’ Trailer: After Influencing 21st Century Euro-Cinema, Are the Dardennes Yesterday's News?
The Dardenne brothers, Jean-Pierre and Luc, for better or worse, have been the most influential European filmmakers of the 21st century. No doubt about it. Not even close. They have won two Palme d’Ors (“Rosetta ” and “L’Enfant”) using their now heavily imitated brand of intensely realistic, hand-held camera filmmaking. This basically influenced a bunch of film movements in Europe alone, especially the Romanian New-Wave which expanded on the style with uber long-takes. Signs of there being a pushback to the Dardennes happened in 2016 with their drama “The Unknown Girl” which premiered, as with all of their movies, at Cannes but was met with a collective shrug by critics and audiences. Had the Dardennes’ style finally hit a wall with cinephiles? After all, and as mentioned before, it’s been imitated so many times that the powerful effect it once had on us is now all but a cliche of Euro-style filmmaking.
Read moreMartin Scorsese Doc on Bob Dylan to be Released by Netflix in June
Martin Scorsese will be directing another Bob Dylan documentary and he's going the Netflix route, again, for its release.
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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.