I hope Universal Pictures has taken note of Dave Bautista’s recent insult at their most prized and lucrative franchise. On Twitter, a fan asked the “Guardians of the Galaxy” actor if he’d ever want to play the villain in a “Fast and Furious” spinoff starring Dwayne Johnson and John Cena. Bautista’s answer? He’d rather stick to doing ‘good films’
Read moreSpike Lee's ‘Do The Right Thing' Is 30
"My people, my people, what can I say, say what I can. I saw it but didn't believe it, I didn't believe what I saw. Are we gonna live together, together are we gonna live?" — Mister Señor Love Daddy, “Do the Right Thing”
Read more‘Those Who Wish Me Dead’ From Director Taylor Sheridan - Starring Angelina Jolie and Jon Bernthal?
I’m hit/miss when it comes to critically-acclaimed writer-director Taylor Sheridan. His movies all encompass the same blueprint, they feel etched in screenwriting 101 tropes. “Sicario” was mostly driven by Denis Villeneuve’s pulse-pounding direction, its sequel ‘Day of the Soldado’ was a total mess; “Wind River” was a snowy letdown, but Sheridan’s more-than-decent directorial debut “Hell or High Water” was a solid neo-western, albeit, a tad overpraised. Suffice to say, you can rest assured, in all of these and future Sheridan opuses, there will always be an unnecessarily elaborated coda stuffed in for good measure.
Read moreAlfred Hitchcock's ‘North By Northwest' Turns 60
Danny Boyle's ‘Yesterday’ Review: A Great Premise Is Squandered By Romantic Subplot
Danny Boyle’s “Yesterday” is first and foremost a Richard Curtis movie — if you don’t know him, Curtis is an expert at writing romcoms which include “Love Actually,” “About Time” and “ “Four Weddings and a Funeral.”
With all that said, If the synopsis of “Yesterday” sounds like an absolute blast on-paper then, hate to say it, it doesn’t meet those expectations on-screen. By now you must have surely seen the ads; failing singer-songwriter Jack Malik (Himesh Patel) wakes up one morning, only to learn that The Beatles never existed and, more importantly, their rich catalogue of songs his for the taking. He ends up being heralded as the guy who wrote “Let it Be,” “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and other such classics. It’s all set-up quite nicely, in fact, with Boyle’s energetic brand of stylized filmmaking.
However, problems arise in the film’s second act, which has our main protagonist chasing the girl of his dreams, his best friend since the age of seven, which puts The Beatles stuff on pause for mundane romance. Instead of expanding on the ingenious premise, Curtis decides to inject his movie with off-puttingly mawkish sentiment. It’s a missed opportunity which cannot even be saved by the great soundtrack. [C+]
John Waters: The “Gross-Out Comedy" is Dead; Names Gaspar Noé’s ‘Climax’ Best Movie of the Last Year.
I can never get enough of director John Waters — just the sheer fact that he is responsible for making “Pink Flamingos,” one of the most tasteless movies ever created, ranks him way up in my books.
Read morePaul Schrader Attacks Brian De Palma's Artistry: “Brian Is Trite, Brian Is Artistically Weak”
Paul Schrader’s Facebook page is a delirious must-follow for any cinephile out there. The legendary writer-director has a, more or less, “fuck it” attitude towards everything. This could sometimes be a dangerous balancing act, especially when it comes to today’s P.C. attitudes online — I mean, at some point last year, during A24’s “First Reformed” awards campaigning, he was put in “Facebook jail,” as he put it, by the indie studio because of his all-too-honest approach on social media.
Read moreFantasia Film Festival’s Full 2019 Lineup Includes ‘Ready or Not' World Premiere
The 2019 Fantasia Film Festival will be happening in just a few weeks from now (more precisely July 11th), I will be there for full coverage of the event in Montreal, Canada.
Read more‘Cold Case Hammarskjöld’ Trailer: The Best, Most Shocking Documentary You Will See in 2019
I met Danish journalist and filmmaker Mads Brügger in the lobby of the Mariott hotel at the Sundance Film Festival this past January, just to congratulate him on the triumphant documentary he had just screened at the fest.
Read moreJohn Cooper To Step Down as Sundance Head in 2020
I had heard more than a few months ago that John Cooper was going to step down as head director of the Sundance Film Festival. It was, however, only officially announced today that, after just 10 years on the job, Cooper will move into a newly-created “emeritus director” role after the 2020 edition of the festival next January.
Read moreTerrence Malick's ‘A Hidden Life’ Set For Oscar-Ready December 13th Release
When Fox Searchlight nabbed the rights to distribute Terrence Malick's "A Hidden Life" for $13 Million, eyebrows were raised. It is a film so perplexing that even at the "high-brow" Cannes Film Festival there were hundreds of walkouts, you figured they’s go for Oscar. All this, despite the mixed reviews.. The film itself is problematic — you can read my review of it here.
Read more‘Spider-Man: Far From Home' Review: Inessential MCU, This ‘European Vacation' Romp Barely Entertains
The second installment in the latest live-action Spider-Man reboot feels like it wants to be an MCU “European Vacation” but is continuously bogged down by the familiar narrative beats that come in being, you know, part of the MCU. Yes, there’s the picturesque, old architecture with which we associate the beautiful continent with, as Peter Parker (Tom Holland) and his classmates go on a school trip to Prague, Venice, London and Paris — and yet, the movie is consistently bogged down by relentless action and a contrived romance between Parker and his classmate MJ.
Read moreIs Todd Phillips' ‘Joker' Premiering at Venice?
Another day, another Venice Film Festival preview. This time Deadline tries to tackle the upcoming festival, set to take place from August 28th to September 9th. And yet, most of the stuff they tackle is Hollywood-centric, no mention of Reichardt, Zhao, Zeitlin, Kore-eda or the Safdies. Hell, they don’t even want to mention Woody Allen’s “Rainy Day in New York,” even though I have it under good authority that it is definitely premiering on the Lido.
Read more‘Midsommar' Splitting Critics into Love/Hate Factions
I am itching to re-watch Ari Aster’s “Midsommar” next week. Mostly because the first time around I was expecting something in the same vein as “Hereditary” but ended up getting a horror-comedy ode to the end of a relationship. It turns into heady stuff, but I’m confident that I may like it a bit more the second time around (you can take a look at my B scoring review from last week). Then again, its blatant similarities to “Wicker Man” did irk me … the movie does have familiar narrative beats, which render it less original than it thinks it is. In other words, it’s not as singular-feeling as “Hereditary.” Regardless, the movie is splitting critics with a 74 Metacritic score.
Cannes 2019: Yorgos Lanthimos Wanted Marco Bellochio's ‘The Traitor' for the Palme
There have been some rumblings that the “unanimous” Palme D’or victory for Bong Joon-ho’s “Parasite” was not so .. unanimous. Juror Yorgos Lanthimos was big on Marco Bellocchio’s gangster saga “The Traitor,” but it seemed to mostly be him, fellow juror/director Alice Rohrwacher and another unnamed compatriot. They were a three-person team going to bat for Bellochio, but, as we all know, the full jury ended up settling for Bong.
Read moreMany Cannes Competition Titles Have Still Not Found American Distribution
It’d be a real sin if some of the still undistributed Cannes titles were not seen by American audiences, alas, such is the state of cinema right now, there is no market for deeply attuned works of art. It’s not like I liked all of these orphaned titles either, but they have prestige behind them, they were chosen for competition at the most important film festival on earth.
Read moreCritics Poll — Jordan Peele's ‘Us' Named Best Movie of 2019 (So Far) According to Over 150 Critics
In what has been deemed by many critics as a relatively weak year thus far at the movies, Jordan Peele’s “Us” has been named the best movie (so far) of 2019, at least according to a group of film critics, journalists, bloggers and entertainment reporters. Peele’s horror movie, which nabbed 40 votes, barely squeezed by its closest competitors, Olivia Wilde’s “Booksmart” (39) and Joanna Hogg’s “The Souvenir” (39).
Read moreCritics Poll 2019: The Participants
150 film critics.
Read more7-Year-Old ‘Avengers' Actress tells Marvel Fans ‘Please Don't Bully Me'
Young Lexi Rabe, all but 7 years of age, played Tony Stark's daughter in “Avengers: Endgame” — she’s in the scene where Stark puts her to bed and says: "I love you tonnes," to which she responds: "I love you 3,000."
Read moreDisney Re-Releasing ‘Avengers: Endgame' This Friday In Order to Surpass ‘Avatar' Worldwide Box-Office Record
“Avengers: Endgame” has a worldwide box office total which currently stands at $2.75 billion. James Cameron’s “Avatar,” has a $2.788 billion gross. That means a difference of $40 million. Given Disney’s penchant for trying to take over the movie world, they have decided to huff and puff their way to the record by re-releasing ‘Endgame’ this coming Friday. The gimme for Marvel fans will be three special features added to the film: an intro from co-director Anthony Russo, an “unfinished” deleted scene and a special sneak peek at “Spider-Man: Far From Home.” I think I’ll pass.
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.