It’s been five years since David Fincher released his last feature “Gone Girl.” The wait may very well be over soon as Fincher has signed on to direct “Mank,” a forthcoming Netflix feature about the life and times of “Citizen Kane” co-screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz. The film will no doubt tackle the Welles-vs-Mankiewicz feud, which has been a controversial point of contention for cinephiles, especially after the 1971 publication of Pauline Kael’s much-disputed essay, which claimed that the mastermind behind the ‘Kane’ screenplay was solely Mankiewicz. I do wonder if Fincher will portray Wells has the villain or if he will try to give a fair assessment of what actually went on behind-the-scenes with ‘Kane.’ Kael’s assertions were debunked numerous times by historians and scholars.
Read more‘Terminator: Dark Fate’ Director Says Female Character Will ‘Scare the F— Out of’ Misogynists
Sam Raimi Working On Bruce Campbell ‘Evil Dead' Sequel
Sam Raimi hasn’t made a movie since 2013’s misbegotten “Oz The Great and the Powerful.” It’s time for the director of such classics as “Evil Dead II,” “Army of Darkness,” “Darkman,” “A Simple Plan,” “Spider-Man 2,” and “Drag Me To Hell” to make a comeback, don’t ya think?
Read moreJoe Wright’s ‘Woman In The Window,’ Starring Amy Adams, Delayed After Test Screenings Left People “Confused”
Having a confused reaction to a movie is not always a bad thing. In fact, most of the time, I welcome the feeling of confusion, bewilderment if you will, because that probably means there’s a lot of thematic resonance within the film.
Read more‘The Lion King’ First Reactions: Disney's Live-Action ‘King' Is Driven By Top-Notch VFX
More than a few media outlets have used BuzzFeedNews writer Adam B. Vary’s first reaction tweet of “The Lion King” in their headlines. In the tweet he claims that the upcoming live-action movie is “going to change how we look at movies forever.” Fine, a juicy quote that Disney could even surely use for their promo trailers and ads. However, he goes on to add that “as an *emotional* experience, though…I’ll put it this way: It turns out lions can’t really emote.” Doesn’t that kind of negate the usage of the former quote? Anyway, it didn’t stop IndieWire from slapping it as the titular headline of their article about yesterday’s premiere in Hollywood. Isn’t that dishonest to do in today’s clickbait zeitgeist? Where millions of people form their own opinions by not reading the article itself, but just its title in a tweet.
Read moreNetflix Thriller ‘Red Notice' Adds The Rock, Gal Gadot, Ryan Reynolds and $200M Budget
Variety reporting that Dwayne Johnson, Gal Gadot and Ryan Reynolds will score “massive paydays” ($20 million each) to costar in the heist-thriller Red Notice, a Netflix original movie that Universal passed on. Director-writer Rawson Marshall Thurber (“Skyscraper”) will be paid $10 million.
Read moreDisney's Endgame is to Beat Netflix
Was it foolish of Disney to remake so many of their most popular movies within the span of a few years. Just this year we got Dumbo, Aladdin, and Lion King. If they had spaced them out to maybe 1 or 2 a year, they might have each been received better; but now people are getting weary, and Disney’s greed is showing. But was it all done purposely? In a mad rush to the eventual endgame for the mouse house: the launch of Disney+.
Read moreSJW and ’Woker' Mentality Explained?
I've been thinking a lot lately about the current socio-political world we live in, especially on social media and how everyone on there is trying to find something to fight about.
Read moreWoody Allen on #MeToo Boycott: ‘I Don't Think I'll Ever Retire'
Woody Allen spoke to the media on Tuesday [via THR] and gave details on his latest feature being shot in San Sebastian, Spain. The current working title of the movie is “Rifkin’s Festival” and stars Oscar winner Christoph Waltz, Gina Gershon, Wallace Shawn, Elena Anaya, Louis Garrel and Sergi Lopez. Shooting is supposed to wrap on August 23rd.
Read more‘Little Women' Test Screening Reactions
I’ve just read four positive test-screening reactions for Greta Gerwig’s “Little Women.” The film was shown in L.A on Monday night.
Read more‘The Jesus Rolls' Set For Early 2020 Release
As you may have heard, a movie spinoff centered around “The Big Lebowski” character The Jesus has been shot and edited for release .
Read moreJoaquin Phoenix’s Joker Movie ‘Doesn’t Follow Anything’ From The Comics
Todd Phillips’ upcoming “Joker” movie is not a Joker origin story as much as it is a crazy clown dude movie.
Read more‘The Farewell’: Awkwafina Shines In A Resonant Happy/Sad Tale Of Family Love & Loss [Review]
I am re-posting my Sundance review of Lulu Wang’s “The Farewell” because of its impending theatrical release this coming Friday. Also, look for an interview with Wang to be posted later this week — she has truly directed one of the very best movies you will see this summer.
Read more‘Judy’ Trailer: Renée Zellweger Brings Judy Garland's Tortured Soul On-Screen
Renee Zellweger as Judy Garland isn’t a terrible casting decision. It could work. Zellweger and Garland both have what you might call "unconventional movie star looks". Garland did, however, age terribly in her ‘40s. All the mentally draining stuff she had to go through eventually took its toll .
Read more‘Spider-Man: Far From Home’ Earns $117M in six days; ‘Midsommar’ Debuts in Sixth Spot.
When all else fails at the box-office, you can always count on superhero movies to come and save the day. ”Spider-Man: Far From Home” catapulted to the top of the domestic box office with a six-day $185 million Debut.However, if you just count its traditional 3-day weekend gross, ‘Far From Home’ only made $93. That’s $24 million less than its predecessor, 2017’s “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” which earned $117 million on opening weekend.
Read more‘Midsommar': A Few More Thoughts
Ari Aster’s absurdist break-up movie “Midsommar” is now in theaters [review]. No matter its flaws, it is your duty, as a cinephile, to go and seek this movie out. After two viewings, I can unequivocally state that I have never seen a movie mix horror and comedy quite this way before. Ari Aster’s vision is truly unique. It will no doubt polarize audiences the same way Darren Aronofsky’s “mother!” did a few years ago. It starts off with a rather slow set-up, but Aster finally lets ‘er rip when the “outrageous” payoff happens. Abandoning all self-seriousness and going for full-on horror comedy was this movie’s calling.
So what if Joe Talbot is White
I had an argument with someone the other day about “The Last Black Man in San Francisco.” And, surprisingly, I was actually defending the movie (despite my C+ review at Sundance). This person, a female of white-privilege, expressed disappointment in finding out that “The Last Black Man in San Francisco” was directed by a white man and not a person of color. She liked the movie when she saw it back in Boston, but, at the same time, she had thought, at the time, that it was directed by a black filmmaker. And so, she now finds the movie is of a lesser quality, all because it didn’t come from a black perspective. Hypocritical? Maybe.
Read moreVenice Film Fest Struggling To Find Female-Directed Movies For Competition — Report
As fall festivals start announcing their lineups in the coming weeks, with Toronto and Venice both scheduled to do so in two weeks time, I’ve been getting more and more intel on the behind-the-scenes goings on happening at both festivals. I’ll keep leaking the info through a series of articles in the coming days. However, most imminently, I want to tackle Venice boss Alberto Barbera’s struggles to find female directors for his competition lineup.
Read moreNYT Op-ed Goes After White Male Film Critics
A 7.5 N.Y. Times opinion piece called “The Dominance of the White Male Critic” has been making the rounds. For better or worse, what Elizabeth Mendez Berry and Chi-hui Yang have written is a conversation starter.
Read moreTIFF Imposing Stricter Rules to Nab World Premieres
There have been whispers about TIFF trying to one-up its impressive lineup of world premieres last year. For the last decade or so its had to give up its glory days of the ‘90s and 00’s to competitive fests such as Venice and Telluride. However, last year there seemed to be a resurgence of World Premieres at the fest. Toronto’s WP slate was the most impressive its been in over a decade: Green Book, Widows, If Beale Street Could Talk and High Life (just to name a few) all premiered at the fest, bypassing Venice and Telluride.
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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.