The first trailer for Universal Pictures’ Queen & Slim is here and it looks like a socio-political/African-American version of “Bonnie and Clyde” and “Thelma & Louise.”
Read moreSamantha Morton Says Working With Woody Allen Was Life-Changing
Actress Samantha Morton (“Morvern Callar,” “Minority Report”) has been nominated for two acting Oscars, including a Supporting Actress nod for 1999’s Woody Allen-directed “Sweet and Lowdown.” Speaking to Vanity Fair, Morton mentions that her time shooting “Sweet and Lowdown” with Allen was a memory she will always cherish.
Read moreOlivia Wilde Set To Star In & Direct Time's Up Era Psychological Thriller
Deadline’s Mike Fleming Jr. is reporting that there is a studio war to nab Olivia Wilde’s “Don’t Worry Darling, “a psychological thriller with shades relevant to the Time’s Up Era. Fleming claims to have “heard that between studios and streamers, there might be a dozen offers on the table for a movie that will happen very quickly. The auction should close by the weekend.” The 35-year-old actress is set direct and star in the film.
Read more‘The Irishman' Trailer: Martin Scorsese's Gangster Epic Starring De Niro, Pesci and Pacino.
Will there be anything bigger, news-wise, today than Netflix finally releasing the first trailer for Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman”? Don’t count on it. The upcoming mob drama spans decades and follows Frank Sheeran’s (Robert De Niro) journey into the dark side of the American political process. It’s, quite simply, the most anticipated movie of the year.
Read more‘Ford v Ferrari' Test-Screening Reaction
Christian Bale and Matt Damon star in the racing biopic “Ford v Ferrari.” James Mangold’s Race-car drama will deal with the Ford Motor Company’s rivalry with Enzo Ferrari’s racing empire in 1966. Mangold, best known for having directed “Logan” and “I Walk the Line,” has been directing adult dramas now for close to 20 years in Hollywood, which is truly and unprecedented feat given the amount of paradigm shifting that has happened at the movies since then. He’s survived the onslaught. He’s somewhat maintained his integrity as an artist, even amidst all the changes and obsessions with superheroes and the near-total dissolving of the mid-budget adult drama.
Read more‘The Nightingale' Is A Self-Indulgent Mess [IFFBoston/Review]
“The Nightingale,” director Jennifer Kent’s sophomore effort, following “The Babadook,” desperately wants to be delve into the white man’s history of violence, particularly towards women.
Read moreJose Padilha On Board as Director for Netflix's Jiu-Jitsu Origin Story, "Dead or Alive"
Brazilian director Jose Padilha has signed on to another Netflix production, continuing his long-running relationship with the streaming service. This time, Padilha will be turning his attention to the genesis and growth of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, with the film “Dead or Alive” set to explore how this mixed martial art spread across the world. Padilha is sharing scriptwriting duties with Peter Maguire, while he will also produce the film alongside Greg Silverman.
Read moreIndieWire Critics Name ‘Inglourious Basterds’ Quentin Tarantino’s Best Movie
I was invited to participate in IndieWire’s Quentin Tarantino poll. The results, published yesterday, had “Inglourious Basterds” garnering the most votes and named the best film of QT’s career. There weren’t too many participants, ‘Basterds’ earned 11 votes, but if this were a larger poll, with hundreds of critics participating, then it would have been a cakewalk for “Pulp Fiction” to win. The 1994 classic changed the entire movie industry and should be considered one of the greatest movies ever made.
Read more‘Love, Antosha' is An Immensely Personal Doc Tribute to Anton Yelchin [Review]
Anton Yelchin was only blossoming as a young actor when he tragically died of a freak accident back in June of 2016. As a performer, it’s so easy talking about his talents, because he was unequivocally brilliant and intensely into his art. It has to be said, but his career was mostly filled with supporting turns, and some lead roles, but he always found a way to steal the show. The last time we saw Yelchin on-screen, he stole scenes from the highly talented Anya Taylor-Jones and Olivia Cooke in “Thoroughbreds,” a pitch-black crime drama in which his drug-dealing smack-talker turned out to be the moral compass of the film. That was the beauty of Anton, he always loved to choose bizarre characters and fully flesh them out to make them feel humane.
Read moreLuca Gudagnino Slowly Losing His Cinematic Identity; To Direct ‘Lord of the Flies' Adaptation?
Luca Guadagnino’s “Suspiria” was a perplexing mix of arthouse and horror which divided critics and audiences alike. A 150 minute dive into the abyss of the unknown. I found it to be a fascinating mess of a film, one which never really found its groove but proved that Guadagnino could stage dread to the nth degree.
Read more‘The Lighthouse’ First Trailer: Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe's Psychodrama is Brilliantly Debauched
I saw Robert Eggers‘ “The Lighthouse” at Cannes, a slow-building tale of the sea and the madhouse isolation, filled with booze, demons and nightmares, that comes in feeling so alone and vulnerable as a man. Robert Pattinson is, as usual great, but I wouldn’t call this his best performance; essential and peak Patttinson will always be his turn in The Safdies’ “Good Time.” The real reason to watch this is for Eggers’ astute and deeply folklore-indebted stylings and, of course, a madman-esque performance from Willem Dafoe as the old bearded sea dog.
Read moreNoah Baumbach’s ‘Marriage Story’ Selected as 2019 New York Film Festival Centerpiece Film
I have been consistent in my insistence that Noah Baumbach’s “Marriage Story” will be the movie everybody raves about this fall festival season. I had already heard two accounts that used the word “masterpiece” in their admiration for the film; Not to mention the fact that it has now, as predicted, been chosen for all four major fall festivals (Toronto, Telluride, Venice and New York). That’s right, the New York Film Festival has just announced today that Baumbach’s latest will be the centerpiece selection of the festival, which is usually a slot reserved for the film the NYFF have the highest aspirations for, the centerpiece of the whole event.
Read moreThe 2010s Only Had Two Hollywood Movies Go Over 3 Hours in Length; In Comparison, the 1990s Had 15
“Avengers: Endgame” is the only American studio movie that hit the 3 hour mark this decade. That’s right, the American epic is all but extinct. We know the “epic” was all the rage in 20th century Hollywood, with grand sweeping statements invading almost every genre including the musical, but to have just one 3 hour movie this decade feels depressing.
Read more‘Mindhunter' Season 2 Trailer: David Fincher's Series Probes More Serial Killers
The first season of David Fincher’s Netflix series “Mindhunter” was great. Its 10 episodes felt like perfectly mastered individual vignettes which delved into the heart of the “American darkness.” There was a sense of brooding discovery as Fincher’s series decided to delve into the psychological science behind serial killers.
Read moreDocumentary: ‘For Sama,' ‘Honeyland' & ‘Mike Wallace is Here' [Review]
Three fine documentaries that I saw at Sundance this past January were released on Friday.
Read moreMartin Scorsese’s ‘The Irishman’ to Open the 2019 New York Film Festival
The 57th New York Film Festival will premiere Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman at Alice Tully Hall on Friday, 9.27.
Read moreBox-Office: Quentin Tarantino Hits Career High As ‘Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood' Has $40M Opening
Disney's new take on “The Lion King” remained atop the box office this weekend, despite the biggest second-weekend drop off that one of their 'live action' remakes has seen. With $75.5M this weekend, the Jon Favreau directed, all-star cast driven (and highly faithful) remake now has a domestic standing of $351M, boosting its worldwide tally to a hefty $962M, leaving it finely poised to pounce over the $1B mark next weekend, making it the second Disney re-hash in as many weeks to do so after the Will Smith starring Aladdin reached the milestone this weekend.
Read moreTelluride 2019: ‘The Aeronauts' to Premiere. ‘Ad Astra' Not Going.
When “Green Book” won Best Picture earlier this year, it ended up being the first time since “Crash” screened at the Toronto International Film Festival (back in 2004) that the Oscar winner for Best Picture had premiered outside of the Telluride Film Festival. In fact, before the “Green Book” win, every single Best Picture winner this decade has gone first to Telluride and then either screened at TIFF or completely bypassed it (“Birdman”). Will magic strike twice again for TIFF this year? After all, Taika Waititi’s much-buzzed about“Jojo Rabbit” will be skipping Telluride this year in favor or Toronto ..
Read moreFast & Furious in Space ‘Not out of the question,’ Says Franchise Writer
There have been a total of eight “Fast & Furious” movies. Now, with the franchise stepping into uncharted territory this coming Friday with its first spin-off (“Hobbs & Shaw”), the room for idea expansion has arrived.
Read more‘IT: Chapter Two' Runtime Confirmed at 2 Hours and 45 Minutes
“IT: Chapter Two” director Andy Muschietti surprised horror fans on Saturday as the filmmaker confirmed that the sequel’s running time currently stands at a whopping 2 hours and 45 minutes — and he seems perfectly fine with it:
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