Director Luca Guadagnino was bound to premiere his new HBO series, “We Are Who We Are,” a set of coming of age stories in Italy, at Cannes as part of the 2020 Director’s Fortnight section. Paolo Moretti, who heads Directors’ Fortnight, had mentioned that he had been plotting a continuous screening of the eight-hour movie, with a lunch break in the middle.
Read more‘Bill and Ted Face the Music': Far From Excellent, But Party On Dudes [Review]
Almost 30 years later, in “Bill & Ted Face the Music,” our stoners are going through couples therapy with their wives (Jayma Mays and Erinn Hayes), and are still jobless, seeking to find their next hit by playing at dives such as the Elk Lodge during $2 taco night (most of the attendees are there for the tacos).
Read more‘Soggy Bottom': What You Need to Know About Paul Thomas Anderson's 9th Film
More news coming in today from the shoot of Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest, a film that is supposed to be shooting in an ultra-secretive set, but, judging by all the on-set photos that have leaked these past few weeks, with people swarming to get pictures of the actors, security has clearly not been tight enough. As far as official news goes, there is none, only that Bradley Cooper was “in talks” for a role, but leaked photos clearly show the actor on the set and shooting the movie.
Read more‘Tenet’ Nabs $53M+ Overseas Box Office, Exceeds Expectations By Wide Margin
Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” may have just revived the struggling theatrical business overseas with a Wednesday-Sunday opening of $40M+ and that’s not including Canadian numbers, which are set to be revealed on Sunday.
Read moreDaisy Ridley Claims the Acting Offers Have Stopped Since ‘Rise of Skywalker'
Star Wars actress Daisy Ridley has admitted that her post-”Rise of Skywalker” career has thus far been a bust. The final chapter of the “Star Wars” Disney trilogy came out last December and Ridley, just 28 years of age, admitted in an interview to EW “There were loads of things I auditioned for and I didn’t get any of them”.
Read moreChadwick Boseman Dies at 43
This news has me straight in the gut. “Black Panther” actor Chadwick Boseman has just died after a 4-year battle with Colon Cancer. He was 43 years of age.
Read moreTIFF Significantly Reduces Number of Accredited Journalists For Its Digital 2020 Edition
This year, the Toronto International Film Festival decided to go in a completely different direction when it came to the number of media they would accredit. Since the year has been a wash due to COVID-19, TIFF decided to slash 2/3 of the number of press credentials they would usually accept. According to an email sent to me via TIFF’s media accreditation office, the usual number of 1600+ accredited journalists has gone down to just 500 for this year’s digitally-driven edition of the festival.
Read more‘Tenet' is Outselling ‘Interstellar' and ‘Dunkirk' in U.S. Ticket Pre-Sales
Deadline is reporting that Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” is beating ticket pre-sales (namely in the US, UK, and Australia) of previous Nolan films such as “Interstellar” and “Dunkirk.” Of course, “Tenet” won’t necessarily have a bigger opening weekend than those other two films since the two biggest film markets (New York, Los Angeles) won’t have their theaters reopening on time for the film’s September 3rd release date. For shame.
Read moreSofia Coppola's ‘On the Rocks' Set to World Premiere at NYFF 58
This year’s New York Film Festival was already shaping up to be one of the better festival lineups of the fall, but, after today’s news that NYFF organizers have managed to convince Apple and A24 to world premiere Sofia Coppola’s “On the Rocks,” it may officially be the best one of the lot. Coppola’s film, along with Steve McQueen’s “Small Axe,” Azael Jacobs’ “French Exit” and Chloe Zhao’s “Nomadland,” represent the most highly anticipated titles of this year’s 58th edition of the fest.
Read more‘i'm thinking of ending things': Charlie Kaufman's Meta Anxieties and Philosophical Rumblings [Review]
Charlie Kaufman loves to examine the uneasy anxieties that are at the core of human existence. His films, ranging from the romantically morbid animation of “Anomalisa” to the philosophical musings of “Synecdoche, NY,” are heavily derived from the 20th-century stage plays Kaufman has been influenced by. In his latest pseudo-intellectual Dostoyevskian “romp,” Kaufman dares us to leap into the wild blue again with him in the weirdest, most obsessively personal Netflix original movie I have ever seen.
Read more‘Tenet': Christopher Nolan's Latest Epic is Ambitious, Fascinating, But Incomprehensible [Review]
Christopher Nolan has somehow managed to make a movie that makes his 2010 mindfuck “Inception” look easy to follow. In “Tenet,” which very much feels like Inception-on-steroids, the ubiquitous writer-director doesn’t necessarily cut down on the exposition, but still manages to give us his most complicated and confusing movie to date. I, quite honestly, had no idea what was going on in some scenes. It’s a film that doesn’t wait for you to catch your breath or think things through; it hammers you to a pulp, with its 153 minutes a relentless assault on the senses.
Read more‘Ammonite': Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan Are Ladies on Fire For Each Other [Trailer]
With studios delaying releases until 2021, let’s be frank, there just won’t be that many Oscar contenders in 2020, but there are exceptions, and Francis Lee’s “Ammonite” is one of them. Chosen to be part of this year’s nixed Cannes and Telluride Film Festivals, this lesbian romance will finally screen at the Toronto International Film Festival in early September. TIFF wanted the film so badly to be the first festival to screen “Ammonite” that they persuaded its distributor, Neon, to pull its screenings from the upcoming Deauville Film Festival in France.
Read more‘The Personal History Of David Copperfield’: Inclusive Take On Dickens' Classic Tale Rings Hollow [Review]
Last September I saw Searchlight Pictures’ upcoming “The Personal History of David Copperfield,” which is based on Charles Dickens’ classic ode to grit and perseverance.
Read moreSpike Lee’s Filmed Version Of David Byrne's Musical ‘American Utopia’ [Trailer]
Spike Lee’s filmed adaptation of David Byrne’s play “American Utopia” is set to open the Toronto International Film Festival. Lee’s upcoming filmed version of the Broadway hit will debut as the Opening Night film at this year’s event. They aren’t even denying that this is a doc in the same style as the Disney+ “Hamilton” release from earlier this month.
Read moreBerlin Film Festival Foolishly Switches Acting Prizes to “Gender Neutral"
The prestigious festival’s top honchos, Mariette Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian, have announced that, starting in 2021, the Silver Bear acting prizes will go gender-neutral. A statement from the festival reads: “Instead of the awards for the Best Actor and the Best Actress, a ‘Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance’ and a ‘Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance’ shall each be awarded on a gender-neutral basis.”
Read morePaul Thomas Anderson's Latest Has Started Filming in California, With Working Title ‘Soggy Bottom'
‘Tenet' Ticket Pre-Sales Outpacing ‘Joker'
Owing to a lack of competition from other releases, Warner Bros’ “Tenet” is currently outpacing the studio’s biggest 2019 hit “Joker” in pre-sold tickets. “Tenet” will most likely be playing at a record number of screens in various different cities across the world as it slowly, but surely starts being unveiled to the public next week. Of course, most of those theaters will be limited to around 40-50% seating capacity, due to social distancing protocols, but Christopher Nolan’s latest is the only show in town and those hungry to watch an exciting new blockbuster will be coming out in droves to catch the film.
Read more‘The Batman': First Trailer For Matt Reeves/Robert Pattinson Reboot of Cape Crusader Franchise
Director Matt Reeves (“War for the Planet of the Apes”) just premiered the trailer for his upcoming “The Batman” starring Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne aka Batman. It does look as though Reeves will be focusing on the detective side of Batman with this reboot, which is a fresh new perspective to tell, at least when compared to Christopher Nolan and Tim Burton’s excellent film versions of the superhero, which dealt more with the action-side of things.
Read moreGun Control As a Culture Role in Cinema
Hollywood may not like to admit it, and gun enthusiasts may not either, but the fact remains that something remains to be said about the long time influence of the entertainment industry on the promotion of firearms in the United States of America.
Read moreZack Snyder's 4-Hour ‘Justice League' Cut Isn't A Myth Anymore [Trailer]
Warner Bros. and DC Films are now officially going along with Zack Snyder’s bid to release his full cut of “Justice League,” without a single shot from replacement director Joss Whedon in its frames (not to mention $30 million worth of touch-ups.).
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Brady Corbet's “The Origin of the World,” his X-Rated epic about "Northern California’s economy" in the 1970s epic, has now started production in South Africa under the working title “SALT FLATS.”