You know, there was a time when I used to really like Ava DuVernay — her first two films (“Middle of Nowhere,” and “Selma") are above average depictions of the black experience. But then, I believe, DuVernay became a victim of her own success.
Read moreNetflix Wants to Stop Making Movies Like ‘Triple Frontier'
In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m a pretty big fan of J.C. Chandor’s Netflix-produced “Triple Frontier.” In my review of the film I wrote back in January: “Triple Frontier” has Chandor continuing to show his talents for expertly choreographed, hold-your-breath action sequences, just as he did in his last two movies.
Read moreIndieWire Critic Bashes ‘Forrest Gump' Because It “Preaches Conservatism"
Forrest Gump made $708M adjusted back in 1994; Never would a movie like that be able to make that much money today. Nope, a movie like Forrest Gump wouldn't even make 1/4 of that today. Disney has monopolized movie culture and tastes at the box-office. Simple as that. There is no room for original drama.
Read moreAfrican-American Actress Set to Play ‘Little Mermaid’ in Disney Live-Action Version
If you really want to divide and polarize America then just do what Disney did today. The Mouse House decided to cast R&B singer Halle Bailey to play Ariel in their live-action remake of “The Little Mermaid.” The project will be Bailey’s feature film debut. Disney hired-hand Rob Marshall (“Mary Poppins Returns”) will direct, with Lin-Manuel Miranda penning brand-new songs.
Read moreKino Lorber to Distribute Cannes Jury Prize Winner ‘Bacurau’ in the U.S.
2020 is now guaranteed to have, at least, one great movie released in its calendar. Kino Lorber has bought the North American rights to the Cannes Film Festival’s jury prize winner “Bacurau,” which was directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles.
Read moreStyles, Teller, Elgort and Butler Vying to Play Elvis in Baz Luhrmann’s Biopic
Yesterday Deadline‘s Michael Fleming reported that there are just four contenders vying, and to be screen-tested, for the Elvis Presley role in Baz Luhrmann‘s upcoming biopic. Ansel Elgort (Baby Driver, West Side Story); Miles Teller (Whiplash), Harry Styles (Dunkirk) and Austin Butler (The Dead Don’t Die) are the four possibilities. The film has already cast Tom Hanks as Presley’s manager Colonel Tom Parker.
Bret Easton Ellis: P.C. Culture is Preventing Artists From Truly Expressing Themselves
I pulled this Bret Easton Ellis quote from his recent appearance on, of all shows, Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight. The 55-year-old author of “American Psycho” was on the show promoting his new book “White.”
Read moreDaisy Ridley Admits ‘The Last Jedi' Fan Backlash Was ‘Fair'
Yes, Rian Johnson's "The Last Jedi" riled up many long-time "Star Wars" fans and quickly became the most divisive movie in franchise history.
Read moreFlash Movie Hires ‘It’ Director Andy Muschietti
Hardcore DCEU’ers have been clamoring, for years, about a standalone Flash movie being made. Today their wises came true as it was announced that “It” and “It: Chapter Two” director Andy Muschietti signed on to direct the DC Extended Universe flick. Ezra Miller will star in the title role (via The Wrap). The Argentine-born Muschietti is such an incredibly knowledgeable filmmaker that I have no doubt he will give us a more-than-decent effort.
Read moreAbdellatif Kechiche Claims Accusations Are Part of a “Conspiracy" Concocted by Media and French Actresses
Well, the likelihood of cinephiles actually getting a chance to see Abdelatif Kechiche’s controversial Cannes entry, “Mektoub, My Love: Intermezzo,” is getting slimmer by the day. There were various accusations that Kechiche was subjected to after the screening at last month’s Cannes. Specifically, an anonymous source telling the pages of French publication Midi Libre that the director purposely inebriated his actress Ophélie Bau in order for her to perform a non-simulated sex scene. There was also, supposedly, a very awkward photocall between actress and director during the premiere of the film at the Palais des Festivals. Kechiche was even seen exiting the theater when the screening started, probably not wanting to sit next to his cast.
Read moreQuentin Tarantino Keeps Insisting He’s Only Making One More Movie After ‘Once Upon a Time’
Quentin Tarantino is, again, insisting that he plans to quit making movies after his 10th feature. Of course, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” is his ninth feature, so that just leaves one more.
Read more‘Knives Out' Trailer: Rian Johnson's Whodunnit Stars A-List Cast.
When you're director Rian Johnson you can probably make any movie you damn well want.. After all, despite the backlash from some fans, Johnson's "The Last Jedi," which was coming off his visionary sci-fi "Looper," was critically acclaimed, confirmed his ever-growing talents as a writer-director, and impressed Disney so damn much that they decided to give him sole authority of an entirely brand new upcoming Star Wars trilogy. We also realize that 'Jedi' and 'Solo' had problematic box-office numbers, and that Disney head Bob Iger has confirmed they are “slowing” down the process of releasing more movies post-Episode IX. so, with all that being said, what is Johnson to do in the meantime? How about make an original movie.
Read moreAcademy Invites 842 New Members, Half of Them Women
842 new members have been invited to join the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. Half of the new invitees to the film academy are women and 29% people of color. The Academy has thereby doubled its percentage of nonwhite members over the last four years. In 2015, people of color accounted for 8% and in 2019, based on these new invites, that percentage has gone up to 16% If 95% of the invites are accepted, which should be the case, then the film academy will number more than 9,000 members.
And they will still get the winners wrong.
2019 Box-Office Revenue Down 10 Percent; Original Hits Are Nearly Extinct.
Just a few weeks ago, Bloomberg's Anousha Sakoui wrote an alerting piece on the Hollywood’s disappointing summer at the Box-Office. Sakoui opened the piece by stating "more than a month into the summer movie season, one thing has become clear: Many of Hollywood’s sequels, reboots and reimaginings are falling flat."
Read morePaolo Sorrentino’s ‘Loro' Finally Being Released in the U.S.
I can't really say I am a fan of Paolo Sorrentino's cinema, I mean, I do respect it, there's a picturesque quality to his films that is undeniable, but "Il Divo," "The Great Beauty," and "Youth" felt like empty Fellinni-esque exercises. Nonetheless, I was looking forward to his Silvio Berlusconi biopic, starring Toni Servillo as the formerly disgraced Italian Prime Minster.
Read moreOh, Hell No.
2017’s “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” made a lot of money. It surpassed the $350M mark domestically, making it the 5th highest grossing film of 2017 domestic. It was just $40M shy of the billion dollar worldwide mark — these numbers make it the highest-grossing domestic movie of Dwayne Johnson's career. Oh, and it was also the first December release in twenty years to have a #1 spot in February, last achieved by a little movie called “Titanic” back in February ‘98. So, yeah, “Jumanji” was a big deal and, yet, I didn’t care an ounce for it. Go figure.
Read moreTop 10 Best Plot Twists in Modern Cinema History
It isn’t my fault that this list, and video, which I scripted and B-rolled for WatchMojo back in 2014 mostly contains American movies. Hollywood has always had a knack to try to one-up its audience with gimmickry. Whereas European and Asian filmmakers are not interested as much, because, truth be told, twists are indeed gimmicks, but, sometimes, they can work marvelously well.
Read moreBox-Office: ‘Toy Story 4' on Pace to Only Make Half of What ‘Toy Story 3' Grossed Worldwide
I will not be talking about the average “Annabelle Comes Home” opening ($20.3M). Because, frankly, I don’t really care about the movie enough. I’ve already mentioned “Yesterday” exceeding expectations with a #3 debut this weekend, although the $17M intake is a little less than the $20M I was projecting on Friday. So, no, let’s talk about “Toy Story 4” instead.
Read moreThe Much Talked About Scene in ‘Yesterday'
[If you haven’t seen “Yesterday” then stop reading this article. A key plot point is about to be discussed.]
There’s a moment in Danny Boyle’s “Yesterday” when its protagonist, Jack Malik, knocks on the door of an isolated beach house and a 78 year-old John Lennon (played by Robert Carlyle) answers. The alternate-universe that the film had set-up in it first hour paves the way for this unique moment. It only makes sense for Lennon to still be alive in a world where The Beatles never existed. There is no reason for him to have been shot by a celeb-obsessed stalker.
Read moreWell-Reviewed Indies Are Dying at the Summer Box-Office; Blame the Critics?
People are starting to panic about the complete and total failing of indies at the summer box-office. The list of critically-acclaimed movies that weren’t supposed to bomb is significant: “Late Night,” “The Last Black Man in San Francisco,” “Booksmart,” and “The Souvenir.” Then again, although well-reviewed, I don’t particularly find these to be movies that wholeheartedly deserved a wide audience, not even Joanna Hogg’s critically acclaimed “The Souvenir,” which has, according to multiple accounts, become a walkout favorite for movie audiences nationwide. There’s a lot of virtue signaling going on, in case you didn’t notice from that list of films— these are movies that are just not as good as the reviews claim them to be. American audiences have caught on to that, if these were good films then maybe the grosses would be higher. Simple as that.
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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.