Jay Roach and Charles Randolph's "Bombshell" (Lionsgate, 12.20) was screened yesterday in both L.A. and NYC, I got the invite, but I just couldn’t fathom travelling again after such a busy year of non-stop festival-going.
Read more‘El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie' is a Righteous Send-Off for Jesse Pinkman [Review]
Vince Gilligan’s “El Camino: A Breaking Bad Story” may not have been what some “Breaking Bad” fans expected, but this was never supposed to play like another episode of ‘Bad.’ What “El Camino” actually is is a redemptive epilogue for Jesse Pinkman (indelibly played by Aaron Paul).
Read moreBox-Office: ‘Joker' has Record-Setting Second Weekend; Close to $200M Made Domestically
Warner Bros’ much talked about ‘Joker’ continued to laugh off competition as it stayed firm at number one atop this weekends box office.
Read moreMartin Scorsese Doubles Down On Marvel: “We Shouldn’t Be Invaded By Those Movies”
Martin Scorsese spoke at a panel after the LFF screening of his masterful “The Irishman.” Of course, as you can imagine, someone had to ask Scorsese to clarify what he said about Marvel movies last week, and instead of doing damage-control, Scorsese actually doubled-down on his previous comments, calling Marvel flicks an “invasion.”
Read more‘Dolittle' is Probably Not What We Wanted From Robert Downey Jr's Post-Marvel Phase [Trailer]
Robert Downey Jr. channeling Petyr Baelish?
Read morePost-Male-Gaze ‘Charlie's Angels'
They are NOT walking around in swimsuits, okay? But they're REALLY smart and they can kick male ass! That’s what this trailer is telling me, but it all comes off as superficial rather than exuding any sort of believability, which what this thing desperately needs if it wants to achieve its goal of sucking us into its espionage world. Imagine the paycheck Kristen Stewart, Naomi Scott and Ella Balinska must have gotten for this … but can anyone actually suspend disbelief and coherently argue that these gals have the chops to beat superimposing deep state assassins? Not a chance.
Read moreAlex Garland Has No Interest in Writing/Directing ‘Dredd’ Sequel
"Dredd" was a reboot of "Judge Dredd," a terrible ‘90s action movie starring Sylvester Stallone. What we got instead with 2012's "Dredd" was a genuinely visionary film. Paul Leonard's exalting techno soundtrack gave the film an avant-garde edginess that fit perfectly with the film's atmosphere. The 3D was also second to none. Using color and the best use of slo-mo I could recall in ages, ”Dredd” was incredibly singular in its vision.
Read moreRobert Forster, Resurgent Oscar Nominee From ‘Jackie Brown,' Dies at 78
Robert Forster, the wonderful character actor who was nominated for an Oscar for Quentin Tarantino’s “Jackie Brown,” died Friday in Los Angeles of brain cancer at the age of 78.
Read more‘Gemini Man’ is …
Ang Lee‘s Gemini Man was not screened here in its original pristine 4K high-frame-rate 3D version — that’s the way Lee meant for all of us to see it, alas, most Americans won’t get to see it that way.
Read moreOh, Hell No.
‘Parasite': Bong Joon-ho's Film Feels like Kore-eda on Steroids [Review]
South Korean auteur Bong Joon-ho is more known for genre fare such as “The Host,” “Snowpiercer,” “Memories of A Murder,” and “Okja,” but—and don’t be fooled by its title—in his latest film, “Parasite,” the monsters are all human and even scarier at that.
Read moreAlfonso Cuaron Signs With Apple TV+
Apple TV+ is supposed to launch in three weeks, which means they are getting their stacked lineup ready to compete in the streaming wars with the likes of Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+ Suffice to say, it’s shaping up to be a landmark year for the way creative content will be viewed in the years and decades to come. Of course, not everyone can afford subscriptions to all of the aforementioned streaming services, hell, there’s even HULU that needs to be added into the equation — And so, the question remains, how do you entice the public to jump on-board your service? Well, how about sign a bunch of noteworthy filmmakers?
Read moreDavid Cronenberg to Write-Direct Netflix Mini-Series Based on His Own Novel ‘Consumed’ [Nouveau Cinema]
David Cronenberg may have been hinting at retirement for the last 4 years or so, but the legendary 76-year-old director revealed to me tonight that his career may very well not be done. I asked Cronenberg tonight, as he was presenting a 4k restoration of his 1995 film ‘Crash,” at Montreal’s Festival du Nouveau Cinema, how his retirement was going. His answer, accompanied by long-time producer Robert Lantos, was a surprising one. According to Cronenberg, he is currently in pre-production with plans to write and direct a Netflix mini-series based on his own 2014 novel “Consumed.”
Read more‘Bombshell’ and ‘Little Women’ Ready to Roll
Having caught up with most of the big fall festival titles, I still have Greta Gerwig’s “Little Women” and Jay Roach’s “Bombshell” to look forward to. Both films will be unveiled for the press in the coming weeks with Roach’s film set to be screened this coming Sunday and the Gerwig on the 23rd.
Report: NBC Knew About Matt Lauer’s Sexual Misdeeds, but Tried to Bury the Story
NBC News allegedly axed reporter Ronan Farrow’s explosive story about sexual assault allegations against Harvey Weinstein after the ex-Miramax head honcho threatened to oust then-NBC host Matt Lauer for his sexual misconduct. This according to Farrow’s explosive new book “Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators.”
“Weinstein made it known to the network [NBC News] that he was aware of Lauer’s behavior and capable of revealing it,” Farrow writes in his book, according to Hollywood Reporter. This was all an attempt by Weinstein To leverage his own guilt by tackling on Lauer to get NBC to kill the story. which they did. NBC News allegedly killed the story because of pressure from Weinstein.
NBC are denying this ever happened.
This is a serious allegation that could have major repercussions in terms of what the future holds for the higher over at both NBC and MSNBC. Cooperating with Weinstein and letting the Lauer fiasco slide could be detrimental to their wholesome and progressive #MeToo era image.
Oh, but it only gets worse.
Farrow goes on to describe in his book the cover-up and how Weinstein personally interacted with NBC News and MSNBC, including chairman Andy Lack, NBC president Noah Oppenheim and MSNBC president Phil Griffin, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Farrow also suggests that management was aware of allegations of sexual assault against Lauer despite the network’s insistence that they didn’t know about the misdeeds until he was fired.
Trailer for Pixar's 22nd Feature ‘Onward'
Director Dan Scanlon ("Monsters University") and producer Kori Rae will helm "Onward" the next project for the wizards over at Pixar. The film, as described by Disney’s official synopsis, “centers on two teenage elf brothers who go on a quest to discover if there is still magic left in the world.”
Read moreBomb? Reported Budget for ‘Gemini Man': $138M
After a nearly 20 year gestation to the big screen, Ang Lee’s “Gemini Man,” the PG-13 rated movie starring Will Smith, which also cost $138 million to produce, is set to open in theaters on Friday. The film, according to box-office prognosticators, is projected to make $24 million from 3,600 venues this coming weekend.
Lee and Paramount must surely be biting their nails at the present moment, hoping, no praying, that Gemini Man’s overseas haul, especially in China, will fare much better than these predicted U.S. box-office numbers. The brunt of the film’s wildly extravagant budget seems to have to do with the VFX process Lee used to “de-age” Will Smith’s character.
The film has been a critical failure, currently sitting at 30% on Rotten Tomatoes and 37 on Metacritic.
‘El Camino’ not screened for press?
I know that the Netflix-produced “El Camino,” Vince Gilligan’s sequel to “Breaking Bad” is considered by many as more of a TV event than any type of cinematic endeavour, but why not screen it for press? I absolutely adore the world Gilligan created with ‘Bad’ and its brilliant spinoff “Better Call Saul,” which makes “El Camino” a major Netflix event in my books. So, what’s the deal? “El Camino” is set to premiere this coming Friday, October 11th on Netflix, and I am fine waiting until then, but there has been nary a person I’ve spoken to who’s seen the damn thing. The only screening I could find was a Boise, Idaho showing with Aaron Paul in attendance.
Jennifer Aniston Blames Marvel for Diminishing Acting Opportunities
Speaking to Variety, Jennifer Aniston explained why there are no more interesting roles for her anymore, at least as far as those that don’t involve a green screen, and her answer echoes Martin Scorsese’s controversial sentiments from this past weekend — blame it on the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Read moreNew Poster For ‘Doctor Sleep' Recalls Original ‘Shining' Poster
The final international poster for the Mike Flanagan (‘Hush’) directed “Doctor Sleep” has hit the web in the lead up to its 31st October UK release, and November 8th US bow.
Read more
We’re just 24 days away from its release, yet there doesn’t seem to be much excitement building around this film. The marketing has not worked.