Earlier in the week, we had first reactions to Netflix’s upcoming awards season contender “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” based on August Wilson’s play, and, suffice to say, the film features Oscar-worthy performances from Viola Davis and, most intriguingly, the late Chadwick Boseman.
Read moreCannes 2021 Could Be Historic
Maybe it's too early to speculate about the 2021 edition of the Cannes Film Festival, but this pandemic won’t last forever, there is a light at the end of the tunnel and it is realistic to believe that we may be watching films on the Croisette in 7 months time, especially with a Vaccine just right around the corner. With all that being said, if we consider all the holdouts from this year’s canceled event, and add them to all the current productions set to wrap in the next few months, you have the makings for one hell of an official competition next year.
Read moreBest Movies of 2020: Critics Poll Incoming ...
Will the winner be Chloe Zhao’s “Nomadland”? Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet”? Charlie Kaufman’s “I’m Thinking About Ending Things”?
Read more‘Sound of Metal': Riz Ahmed is a Metal Drummer With A Severe Case of Hearing Loss [Review]
Riz Ahmed is Ruben, a metal drummer whose hearing is rapidly deteriorating to oblivion in “Sound of Metal.” He happens to be dating Lou (Olivia Cooke) the singer of their metal duo band Blackgammon. When Ruben’s hearing starts to go and, eventually, in horrifyingly authentic ways, disappears, Lou becomes the voice of judgment, but only as his girlfriend.
Read more‘Run': Twist-Filled Hitchcock Ripoff is a Suspenseful Yarn [Review]
Writing a review for a movie such as “Run,” much like anything by Alfred Hitchcock, is risky, as you walk that fine line between revealing too little and revealing too much of the plot. I’ve decided to try find some kind of middle ground, because you should really go in with as little knowledge of the plot as possible.
Read moreThe Haunting of Bly Manor will Keep You Up at Night
Just in time for Halloween, Netflix dropped its latest hit series: The Haunting of Bly Manor.
The nine episodes were released all in one go, giving horror fans the chance to binge it all ahead of October 31 - or to save it for the day itself.
Read more‘Wonder Woman 1984' Officially Set for HBO Max Premiere on Christmas Day
As we speak, “Wonder Woman 1984” is six weeks away from its global Christmas Day release. Shockingly enough, the Gal Gadot-starring superhero sequel is now officially set to hit theaters on December 25th with an exclusive run on the HBO Max streaming service that same day. The industry is truly crumbling.
Read more‘One Night in Miami’: Relevant and Fictionalized Depiction of Black American Legends is a Dud [Trailer]
Don’t believe the hype, actress-turned-director Regina King isn’t, all of a sudden, some seasoned director who delivered a “great” movie during the fall festival season. No, her “One Night in Miami” actually deserves to be called the most overpraised movie of 2020.
Read moreSpike Lee's Next Film Will Be A Musical About the Origins of Viagra
Despite a pandemic permanently shutting down the industry, Spike Lee had a very busy year - he gave us the critically-acclaimed (but highly overrated) “Da 5 Bloods,” and the extraordinary David Byrne concert documentary “American Utopia.” And it looks as though he will continue to be productive in 2021 as he has just announced what his next cinematic endeavor will be.
Read moreVanessa Kirby is a Major Best Actress Contender in ‘Pieces of a Woman' [Trailer]
The Vanessa Kirby-starring “Pieces of a Woman,” dated by Netflix to be released in select theaters on December 30th, will be available via streaming on January 7th, 2021. I saw this fantastic movie at September’s digital edition of the Toronto International Film Festival, Kirby is almost guaranteed an Oscar nomination for Best Actress, maybe even a win, here’s a snippet from my review:
Read moreMartin Scorsese's ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ Starring De Niro and DiCaprio Starts Shooting in March
Martin Scorsese was supposed to start shooting the $200 million production of “Killers of the Flower Moon” back in March, but then the pandemic hit and, much like every other shoot in Tinsel Town, a delay happened. ‘Killers, which is set to star Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio, is an adaptation of David Grann’s novel, scripted by Eric Roth.
Read moreDavid Fincher Kinda, Sorta Implies Orson Welles Was Overrated
It’s hard not to love a straight-talking David Fincher doing press whenever he has a new movie out. Fincher, this time around at least, is giving us more exciting press junkets than the actual movie he is currently promoting. I’ve seen his latest “Mank” three times, not because I am absolutely in love with it, but because it was such a letdown on first viewing that I desperately wanted to like it the second and third time. Its tackling of “Citizen Kane” scribe Herman J. Mankiewicz will no doubt adhere to the tastes of the producers in the Academy aging voting body who’ve always had a nostalgic yearning for the Golden-Age milieu depicted in Fincher’s film.
Read more‘The Climb': Euro-Inspired Indie is as Shallow as its Characters [Review]
Here’s a clever indie comedy, maybe a bit too clever for its own good, dealing with an utterly dysfunctional bromance. “The Climb” is directed in a highly stylized fashion by Michael Angelo Covino, who also co-wrote the screenplay and stars alongside Kyle Marvin.
Read moreChadwick Boseman and Viola Davis Are Oscar-Worthy in ‘Ma Rainey's Black Bottom'
Here come the first reactions to Netflix’s upcoming awards season contender “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” and, yeah, it sure looks like not only do we have a Best Picture juggernaut, but Oscar-worthy performances from Viola Davis and, most intriguingly, the late Chadwick Boseman.
Read more‘Ma Rainey's Black Bottom' Screens For Critics This Weekend
The late Chadwick Boseman’s film final will be the Netflix adaptation of August Wilson’s play “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” You’d be a silly person not to think that, at least on paper, this has the potential to be a serious awards season contender.
Read moreFour Big Losses on the Silver Screen That Made a Point
In the age of online gambling, a traditional roulette or blackjack table can rightfully feel exotic to anyone. This is especially true in 2020, when casinos are either closed or a mere shadows of their former selves. Today, the JackpotCity online casino offers its players a complete Las Vegas gambling experience complete with table games, slot machines, various card games, and even real-life dealers who handle the cards and spin the roulette wheel remotely, through video streaming. All this without the need for a mask or social distancing, just one tap away. The big win is often part of movies and TV episodes as a side story - sometimes, in turn, it’s a big loss that sets the wheels in motion. Today, let’s take a look at some of the most important gambling losses that serve as a trigger for an entire story.
Read moreChristopher Nolan Tries to Defend the Inaudible Sound Mixing in His Movies
Much like most Christopher Nolan movies, the dialogue in “Tenet,” at key moments, sounds inaudible; Nolan’s sound editing and mixing is and has always been so atrocious that one wonders why he never fixes it given that it’s become a common complaint from his detractors. In “Tenet,” the indecipherable booming bass muffles out what his on-screen characters are saying, and it does become detrimental since the film is heavy on expository dialogue.
Read more‘Mank' is a Playful, Technically Marvelous, But Slight Affair [Review]
David Fincher’s “Mank” will not be a movie with very much mass appeal. It will, however, adhere to the tastes of the producers in the Academy voting body who’ve always had a nostalgic yearning for the Golden-Age milieu depicted in Fincher’s film. This is a very dry, dialogue-driven ode to a bygone era of industry guys wheeling and dealing behind the scenes. Shot in black and white, and semi-inspired by the making of “Citizen Kane,” “Mank” chronicles a forgotten era of Hollywood lore, all seen through the eyes of its misunderstood screenwriter, Herman J. Mankiewicz.
Read moreMost Successful Franchises Based on Movies
It has been a very strange year for movies, with most of the major films expected to have been released in 2020 having been delayed as a result of the coronavirus crisis.
Read more‘Wonder Woman 1984' Set For HBO Max Premiere in January?
As we speak, “Wonder Woman 1984” is six weeks away from its global Christmas Day release. That is clearly going to change in the coming days. The Gal Gadot-starring movie is not being released this year, don’t get your hopes up, COVID-19 cases are on the rise in almost every state and so is the wall-to-wall panic-inducing coverage in the media. That won’t end post-election, it could even intensify with Joe Biden theatening to go into a country-wide lockdown.
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The project was gaining steam in 2023, and then the WGA strikes hit, which deflated the entire thing. At the time, Austin Butler and Colin Farrell were in talks to star as the film’s two leads.