First things first, despite the SXSW and Tribeca canceling their live events and partially moving online, Cannes and Venice are different beasts. They are purists at heart, with a very rich and lengthy tradition in celebrating the theatrical experience. There is absolutely no way these festivals would embrace going digital and screening their competition films via a streaming platform. Okay? Get that out of your head. Either these prestigious European festivals happen in-person or will be unequivocally canceled.
Read moreLarry David Says “It’s Hard” To Think Woody Allen Did Anything Wrong
Larry David owes a lot of his comedy shtick to Woody Allen. You know, the Jewish, neuro-eccentric style of comedy that Allen basically made his own in the early to late ‘70s with classics such as “Bananas,” “Sleeper,” “Love and Death,” “Annie Hall,” etc. Jerry Seinfeld and David eventually took that style of comedy and infused it with the kind of everyday minimalism with now associate it with. Hell, David was even cast as the lead to Allen’s 2009 “comedy “Whatever Works.”
Read moreLouis C.K. Releases A New Stand-Up Special
‘Tiger King’: Joe Exotic Wants Brad Pitt To Play Him In A Film Version
You have probably heard about “Tiger King” by now. It’s almost an inescapable cultural reality of the 2020 pandemic lockdown. The Netflix docuseries about the surreal life of Joe Exotic has been a massive hit, prompting record-breaking numbers for Netflix and, in the process, producing a pop culture artifact that will no doubt, sadly, be associated with the pandemic when all is said and done.
Read more‘Artemis Fowl' Will Go Straight to Disney+; Is Pixar's ‘Soul' Next?
Disney announced that their Kenneth Branagh-directed fantasy adventure movie “Artemis Fowl.,” originally delayed a year and scheduled to come out this spring, will now skip theatrical altogether and premiere exclusively on Disney+. No release date has been given publically just yet.
Read moreWes Anderson's ‘The French Dispatch' Delayed Until October 16th, 2020
As mentioned yesterday, the release of Wes Anderson's “The French Dispatch” has now officially been delayed until October 16th, 2020. This only reinforces my argument that the summer movie season is most likely canceled. There will be no big movie releases between now and August. You can take it to the bank. Up next, Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” will make the switch, the real question is does it get delayed until the fall or does Warner Bros. keep Nolan’s summer streak of films going and wait until Summer 2021 …
Read moreThe 15 Best Comedies Right Now on Netflix
With your two weeks (maybe more) worth of groceries now packed safely in the fridge, you now have to keep yourself busy at home, since everything in the outside world has been canceled. What’s a social-distancing, self-isolator to do at such a unique time in our world’s history? How about relaxing and watching a comedy to make you forget about the chaos going on in the outside world? Given the current state of things, is there any more welcome feeling right now than having a good laugh? May we suggest watching these comedies (all of which are available on Netflix)?
Read moreThe 2020 Summer Movie Season is Most Likely Canceled
Earlier this week, Sony pulled close to its entire 2020 summer movie lineup, pushing them until spring 2021. This, after Disney, Marvel Studios, Universal, and Warner Bros. rescheduled upcoming juggernauts such as “Black Widow,” and “Wonder Woman 1984.” This has prompted many to start pondering whether the entire summer movie season this year will be canceled…
Read moreAmazon Partners with SXSW to Stream Their 2020 Lineup
It was only a month ago that SXSW canceled its 2020 edition of the fest, only to end up as an online venture a few weeks later, with Jury prizes handed out to competition titles. Now comes the news that they are teaming up with Amazon to deliver a new version of the festival that will stream on the Prime Video platform.
Read moreTIFF Boss Hints That the Festival is Working on Possible Online Edition For September
Yesterday I was told by a friend from Toronto that festival head Cameron Bailey was thinking of going digital with the Toronto International Film Festival, that is if we are still not recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic by September. At first, I thought that was a strange way of going about things, especially since TIFF is a festival platform that is, first and foremost, a major launchpad for big studio Oscar contenders. I doubt that studios like Sony, Warner Bros, A24 and Disney would want to risk piracy by premiering their films via a screener link platform.
Read more‘Tiger King' Subject Carole Baskin Continues to Deny She Murdered Her Husband
If you’ve seen the Netflix’s docuseries “Tiger King,” then you would know that one of the more mysterious and fascinating subplots involves Big Cat Rescue owner Carole Baskin and the role she may have played in the 1997 disappearance of her second husband, Don Lewis.
Read moreDirector Ben Berman's Inventive Home Movie Tackles the Anxieties of COVID-19
Director Ben Berman (“The Amazing Johnathan Documentary”) has decided to tackle the anxieties of COVID-19 quarantining with a short film he made during his time in isolation. “The Follow-Up” premiered as a Vimeo Staff pick six days ago. The 5-minute screenshot short uses the Cameo platform — where users can actually pay to get personalized video shoutouts from celebrities — to capture the current zeitgeist of hypochondriac anxieties and total social shutdowns.
Read more‘Call Me By Your Name' Sequel Confirmed by Luca Guadagnino, Original Cast to Return
Director Luca Guadagnino has confirmed the “Call Me By Your Name” sequel. The director recently spoke to the Italian newspaper ‘La Repubblica’ and confirmed that not only is it official, but the entire cast will be coming back:
“I was going to America to meet a writer I love very much, whose name I don’t want to mention, to talk about the sequel. Unfortunately, everything is canceled. Of course, it’s a great pleasure to work with Timothée Chalamet, Armie Hammer, Michael Stuhlbarg, Esther Garrel, and the other actors, they will all be in the new film.”
‘Apropos of Nothing': Woody Allen's Brilliant Memoir Getting Trashed By Biased Reviewers
It was inevitable that Woody Allen‘s “Apropos of Nothing” would be trashed by the “always believe the victim” #MeToo brigade, although, for some reason, those same people are turning a blind eye on Joe Biden’s recent sexual assault accusations. How ironic? Some in the anti-Woody camp are boycotting Allen’s memoir, whereas others are reviewing it, but in a scathing and totally biased fashion.
Read more‘Tiger King' is Much-Welcome Gonzo Entertainment [Review]
I watched the 6 hours, seven episodes total, of “Tiger King,” a Netflix true-crime series that delves into the absurd fringe world of big cat collecting in bumblefuck rural America. Filmed over the course of 5 years, by passionate and committed filmmakers who know they’ve landed on a goldmine of footage, this compulsively watchable limited series has an abnormal amount of twists and turns, so much so that each episode stands as its own individualized story.
Read more‘Don’t Look Up': Adam McKay's Upcoming Comedy Is About a U.S. President Not Listening to Scientists During Global Catastrophe
What we knew about “Don’t Look Up,” the upcoming Jennifer Lawrence-starring “comedy,” directed by Adam McKay, was that [via Deadline] it was going to tell the story of two low-level astronomers who must go on a giant media tour to warn mankind of an approaching asteroid that will destroy Earth.”
Read moreSpike Lee's Upcoming ‘Da 5 Bloods' Will Clock in at an Epic 155 Minutes
The Oscar-nominated director’s next movie, the Netflix-produced “Da 5 Bloods,” was test-screened on November 25th in Brooklyn. Word-of-mouth was excellent, I received a few email reactions about it, all positive. The runtime given to me back in November was that of 2 hours and 30 minutes, well, today it has been confirmed that the official runtime for Lee’s next movie will be 155 minutes [via Netflix]
Read more‘Vivarium' Makes You Feel Trapped For All the Wrong Reasons [Capsule]
Jemma (Imogen Poots) and Tom (Jesse Eisenberg) are a young couple trapped in a rabbit maze of suburbia hell in “Vivarium.”
Read moreNeon Picks Up Brandon Cronenberg's Excellent ‘Possessor'
“Possessor” is the second feature film from Cronenberg, the son of legendary Canadian director David Cronenberg. Cronenberg Jr. debut feature “Antiviral” premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, but this latest film, which premiered this past January at the Sundance Film Festival, is a major step up for the 40-year-old director. An NC-17-worthy visionary sci-fi that shocks and provokes in equal measures.
Read more‘The Hunt' has Liberal Elites Hunting Down Trump's “Deplorables" [Review]
“The Hunt” tries to tackle America’s zeitgeist by riffing on Richard Connell’s “The Most Dangerous Game” and pitting liberal elites preying on Trump’s “deplorables” for sport. A 2019 fall release before it was pulled due to its controversial topic, not to mention Donald Trump tweeting about it, “The Hunt” is a 90-minute B-movie that wants to be more relevant than it actually is.
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Scott says it could be “the highest budget film” of his career” before accounting for tax incentives.” If Scott isn’t bullsh*tting here, and lord knows he might be, that would put the cost in the $200M+ range.