It's time for another Zack Snyder slow-motion extravaganza! Snyder's big sci-fi sequel "Rebel Moon — Part Two: The Scargiver" is now on Netflix, and the reactions ... well, they ain't great, folks. The first film, subtitled "A Child of Fire," didn't fare much better — it's currently sitting at 21% on Rotten Tomatoes. But what about Part Two? Sadly, it seems to be doing even worse than the original flick. As of this writing, "Rebel Moon – Part Two" has a terrible 15% on Rotten Tomatoes. And if you're thinking, "Well, that's just the critics! What are regular people saying about the movie?", you should also know that the film's audience score is a less-than-great 52%. In short, people don't seem to like what Snyder is offering here. Snyder has always had a tenuous relationship with critics, but this seems to be one of his worst-reviewed films to date. Even his cartoon owl movie has...
- 4/25/2024
- by Chris Evangelista
- Slash Film
On April 12, 2024, A24 released “Civil War,” a dystopian film following a team of military-embedded journalists as they race against time to reach DC before rebel factions descend upon the White House. The film written and directed by Alex Garland stars Oscar nominee Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny, Stephen McKinley Henderson and Nick Offerman.
Early reviews for the movie have been overwhelmingly positive, holding fresh at 87% on Rotten Tomatoes. The critics consensus reads, “Tough and unsettling by design, ‘Civil War’ is a gripping close-up look at the violent uncertainty of life in a nation in crisis.” Read our full review round-up below.
See Box office preview: Alex Garland’s ‘Civil War’ will try its best not to divide the moviegoing nation
Siddhant Adlakha of Inverse says, “An upsetting sensory experience accompanied by thundering cacophonies and paralyzing scenes of war and savagery so vast, intense, and overwhelming that you can practically...
Early reviews for the movie have been overwhelmingly positive, holding fresh at 87% on Rotten Tomatoes. The critics consensus reads, “Tough and unsettling by design, ‘Civil War’ is a gripping close-up look at the violent uncertainty of life in a nation in crisis.” Read our full review round-up below.
See Box office preview: Alex Garland’s ‘Civil War’ will try its best not to divide the moviegoing nation
Siddhant Adlakha of Inverse says, “An upsetting sensory experience accompanied by thundering cacophonies and paralyzing scenes of war and savagery so vast, intense, and overwhelming that you can practically...
- 4/13/2024
- by Vincent Mandile
- Gold Derby
Dev Patel’s Monkey Man was released on April 5, 2024, in the U.S. and Canada after its explosive reception at the SXSW Festival when it premiered on March 11. The English language film has an Indian setting and features a predominantly Indian cast. However, censorship issues have caused the film’s release in India to be further delayed from its originally intended release date of April 19.
Dev Patel’s Monkey Man
The film was initially dropped by Netflix to avoid the backlash in the Indian market due to the film’s political undertones. The streaming platform is struggling with its subscriber base in the major market of India, and it couldn’t risk hurting the popular sentiments of the country.
Will Dev Patel’s Monkey Man Be Released in India?
Dev Patel’s Monkey Man struggles to find a release date in India due to its controversial political undertones
Dev Patel...
Dev Patel’s Monkey Man
The film was initially dropped by Netflix to avoid the backlash in the Indian market due to the film’s political undertones. The streaming platform is struggling with its subscriber base in the major market of India, and it couldn’t risk hurting the popular sentiments of the country.
Will Dev Patel’s Monkey Man Be Released in India?
Dev Patel’s Monkey Man struggles to find a release date in India due to its controversial political undertones
Dev Patel...
- 4/6/2024
- by Hashim Asraff
- FandomWire
Dev Patel is one of the best actors working today so when he decided his directorial debut would be an action film inspired by everything from "Oldboy" to Indonesian action cinema and "John Wick," his film "Monkey Man" quickly became one of the most anticipated movies of the year.
The first trailer focused on the "John Wick" comparison, the brutal hand-to-hand combat and a revenge tale, but there's more to "Monkey Man" than meets the eye. The film follows Patel as Kid, a young man working at an underground fight club in a fictional Indian metropolis where he loses for cash. Eventually, Kid gets tired of just getting beaten up and decides to take the fight to the malignant elite that both killed his mother and systemically oppresses the working-class in the city. He takes up the "Monkey Man" persona, which is inspired by Hanuman, the half-human half-ape deity in the Hindu epic "Ramayana.
The first trailer focused on the "John Wick" comparison, the brutal hand-to-hand combat and a revenge tale, but there's more to "Monkey Man" than meets the eye. The film follows Patel as Kid, a young man working at an underground fight club in a fictional Indian metropolis where he loses for cash. Eventually, Kid gets tired of just getting beaten up and decides to take the fight to the malignant elite that both killed his mother and systemically oppresses the working-class in the city. He takes up the "Monkey Man" persona, which is inspired by Hanuman, the half-human half-ape deity in the Hindu epic "Ramayana.
- 3/21/2024
- by Rafael Motamayor
- Slash Film
The musical sometimes feels like a relic of a long-dead Hollywood studio system, but it remains a genre that captures movies’ ability to create story worlds that move freely between reality and fantasy. The worst examples come from filmmakers who give license to music, color, and movement to run amok; the best transcend artifice and integrate songs that become expressions of pure character emotion. Musicals offer endless possibilities, but success demands a complete mastery of the medium.
The best movie musicals of all time have faced obstacles as varied as their creators’ styles and tastes. That’s in part because its integration of at least two art forms — music and film always, but sometimes also dance — demands an unusually high-caliber of multi-faceted talent from those attempting its complexities.
After Lee De Forest invented the “talky,” the opportunity oozing from that new tech prompted an industry rush on musicals in the last days of the 1920s.
The best movie musicals of all time have faced obstacles as varied as their creators’ styles and tastes. That’s in part because its integration of at least two art forms — music and film always, but sometimes also dance — demands an unusually high-caliber of multi-faceted talent from those attempting its complexities.
After Lee De Forest invented the “talky,” the opportunity oozing from that new tech prompted an industry rush on musicals in the last days of the 1920s.
- 3/20/2024
- by Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
Conversations about the future of artificial intelligence can be found all over SXSW this year — and not all of the festival’s attendees are thrilled with the idea. Specifically, the film and TV fans catching screenings of world premieres including “The Fall Guy” and “Immaculate” made their AI displeasure loud and clear on Tuesday at the Paramount Theatre in Austin. (Scroll down to see for yourself.)
The quick-turnaround video editors at SXSW cut a daily sizzle reel highlighting previous panels, premieres and other events, which then runs before festival screenings. On Tuesday, the fourth edition of that daily video focused on the wide variety of keynotes and panelists in town to discuss AI. Those folks sure seem bullish on artificial intelligence, and the audiences at the Paramount — many of whom are likely writers and actors who just spent much of 2023 on the picket line trying to reign in the potentially...
The quick-turnaround video editors at SXSW cut a daily sizzle reel highlighting previous panels, premieres and other events, which then runs before festival screenings. On Tuesday, the fourth edition of that daily video focused on the wide variety of keynotes and panelists in town to discuss AI. Those folks sure seem bullish on artificial intelligence, and the audiences at the Paramount — many of whom are likely writers and actors who just spent much of 2023 on the picket line trying to reign in the potentially...
- 3/13/2024
- by Michael Schneider
- Variety Film + TV
Juno Films has nabbed North American rights to “Girls Will Be Girls,” a mother-daughter drama that premiered at Sundance Film Festival.
The movie will screen at SXSW next week before it lands in theaters this fall.
Shuchi Talati directed “Girls Will Be Girls,” which is set at a strict boarding school in the Himalayas as 16-year-old Mira’s sexual, rebellious awakening is disrupted by her mother, who never got to come of age herself. Preeti Panigrahi, Kani Kusruti and Kesav Binoy Kiron star in the film. It was selected for Sundance’s audience award in the category of world cinema drama.
“I am so excited to be working with Juno Films because of their collaborative approach with filmmakers and fierce dedication to their films,” Talati said in a statement. “Though the film is grounded in India, I have always felt that it is a film for a wide audience. I...
The movie will screen at SXSW next week before it lands in theaters this fall.
Shuchi Talati directed “Girls Will Be Girls,” which is set at a strict boarding school in the Himalayas as 16-year-old Mira’s sexual, rebellious awakening is disrupted by her mother, who never got to come of age herself. Preeti Panigrahi, Kani Kusruti and Kesav Binoy Kiron star in the film. It was selected for Sundance’s audience award in the category of world cinema drama.
“I am so excited to be working with Juno Films because of their collaborative approach with filmmakers and fierce dedication to their films,” Talati said in a statement. “Though the film is grounded in India, I have always felt that it is a film for a wide audience. I...
- 3/7/2024
- by Rebecca Rubin
- Variety Film + TV
Reviewing No Other Land out of Berlinale, Rory O’Connor described the “disorienting and dispiriting landscape” into which it was premiering. Quite an understatement to say the city of Berlin and its major-market festival fumbled through any response to the ongoing genocide in Gaza, against which many filmmakers who’ve attended the festival in years past have spoken out. As Rory summarizes:
“The film premiered this week at the Berlinale, a festival mired in recent controversies in a country that is failing to acknowledge the limits of its own guilt. In the month leading up to the festival, several filmmakers pulled their work from the selection to protest the lack of Palestinian solidarity. Workers of the festival then released an open letter calling for the festival’s organizers to demand a ceasefire. In the weeks leading up, the city’s cultural minister, Joe Chialo, had to backtrack on a proposed ‘anti-discrimination...
“The film premiered this week at the Berlinale, a festival mired in recent controversies in a country that is failing to acknowledge the limits of its own guilt. In the month leading up to the festival, several filmmakers pulled their work from the selection to protest the lack of Palestinian solidarity. Workers of the festival then released an open letter calling for the festival’s organizers to demand a ceasefire. In the weeks leading up, the city’s cultural minister, Joe Chialo, had to backtrack on a proposed ‘anti-discrimination...
- 2/26/2024
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Los Angeles, Feb 25 (Ians) Netflix, reports ‘Variety’, has acquired Nisha Pahuja’s Oscar-nominated documentary feature ‘To Kill a Tiger’, which tells the story of the father of a 13-year-old rape victim in Jharkhand and his long and lonely fight for justice.
The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2022 and was awarded best documentary at Palm Springs.
The 127-minute film charts the emotional journey of Ranjit, a farmer in Jharkhand, whose determined effort forces a social reckoning after his 13-year-old daughter is the victim of a gang rape, adds ‘Variety’.
Pahuja, who spent eight months making the film, is a New Delhi-born Canadian director who was previously in the news about her Emmy nomination for the documentary feature ‘The World Before Her’, which is about the complex and conflicting environment in which young girls grow up in India.
For the last six months, ‘To Kill a Tiger’ executive...
The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2022 and was awarded best documentary at Palm Springs.
The 127-minute film charts the emotional journey of Ranjit, a farmer in Jharkhand, whose determined effort forces a social reckoning after his 13-year-old daughter is the victim of a gang rape, adds ‘Variety’.
Pahuja, who spent eight months making the film, is a New Delhi-born Canadian director who was previously in the news about her Emmy nomination for the documentary feature ‘The World Before Her’, which is about the complex and conflicting environment in which young girls grow up in India.
For the last six months, ‘To Kill a Tiger’ executive...
- 2/25/2024
- by Agency News Desk
- GlamSham
Netflix has acquired the Oscar-nominated documentary feature “To Kill a Tiger.”
The film, about a father’s pursuit of justice in rural India, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2022 and was awarded best documentary at the 2023 Palm Springs International Film Festival. “To Kill a Tiger” was, up until now, the only film this year to be nominated for the best feature doc Oscar without distribution.
Directed and written by New Delhi-born director Nisha Pahuja (“The World Before Her”), the 127-minute film charts the emotional journey of Ranjit, a farmer in Jharkhand, who forces a social reckoning after his 13-year-old daughter is the victim of a gang rape.
Variety‘s film critic Siddhant Adlakha wrote in his “To Kill a Tiger” review that the docu “is a powerful and risky example of the vitality of modern nonfiction filmed in South Asia. It joins recent films like “All That Breathes,...
The film, about a father’s pursuit of justice in rural India, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2022 and was awarded best documentary at the 2023 Palm Springs International Film Festival. “To Kill a Tiger” was, up until now, the only film this year to be nominated for the best feature doc Oscar without distribution.
Directed and written by New Delhi-born director Nisha Pahuja (“The World Before Her”), the 127-minute film charts the emotional journey of Ranjit, a farmer in Jharkhand, who forces a social reckoning after his 13-year-old daughter is the victim of a gang rape.
Variety‘s film critic Siddhant Adlakha wrote in his “To Kill a Tiger” review that the docu “is a powerful and risky example of the vitality of modern nonfiction filmed in South Asia. It joins recent films like “All That Breathes,...
- 2/24/2024
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
Genndy Tartakovsky makes everything he works on better, but even he wasn't able to fix the hot mess that was "Iron Man 2." In Joanna Robinson, Dave Gonzales, and Gavin Edwards' book "MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios," the acclaimed filmmaker behind beloved titles like "Samurai Jack," "Dexter's Laboratory," and "Star Wars: Clone Wars" reveals that he was tapped by director Jon Favreau to help streamline the Marvel sequel's climax.
"Jon was a fan, and he liked the sensibility that I had on 'Samurai,'" Tartakovsky said in an interview for "MCU." "I know what I would want from this situation, so I just tried to give it to him — and he could use all of it or none of it." The scene in question takes place in a park in Queens, where a Japanese tea garden was digitally created. Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and Rhodey (Don Cheadle...
"Jon was a fan, and he liked the sensibility that I had on 'Samurai,'" Tartakovsky said in an interview for "MCU." "I know what I would want from this situation, so I just tried to give it to him — and he could use all of it or none of it." The scene in question takes place in a park in Queens, where a Japanese tea garden was digitally created. Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and Rhodey (Don Cheadle...
- 12/30/2023
- by Valerie Ettenhofer
- Slash Film
“Avengers” filmmaker Joe Russo has caused quite a stir on social media for posting a response to a recent TikTok featuring Martin Scorsese. The Oscar winner’s daughter, Francesca, posted a TikTok this month in which Scorsese playfully directs his dog, Oscar. Russo responded by posting a video in which he tells Scorsese they share the same muse. The camera pans out to reveal Russo is holding his own dog, whom he jokingly calls “Box Office.”
“Aw look, he’s got a schnauzer! I love schnauzers. And his name is Oscar. That’s really cute,” Russo says in his video replying to the Scorsese TikTok. Russo then addresses his own dog: “Ok come on, Box Office.”
Russo’s video is clearly trying to be playful, but it has rubbed many film writers and industry professionals the wrong way, as it seemingly finds Russo jabbing at Scorsese after Scorsese infamously spoke...
“Aw look, he’s got a schnauzer! I love schnauzers. And his name is Oscar. That’s really cute,” Russo says in his video replying to the Scorsese TikTok. Russo then addresses his own dog: “Ok come on, Box Office.”
Russo’s video is clearly trying to be playful, but it has rubbed many film writers and industry professionals the wrong way, as it seemingly finds Russo jabbing at Scorsese after Scorsese infamously spoke...
- 10/30/2023
- by Zack Sharf
- Variety Film + TV
India pulled another big win at the global box office. Shah Rukh Khan’s action-filled political melodrama “Jawan” has zoomed past $113 million worldwide in just over two weeks. With $112 million thus far, it now seems sure to pass the $130 million total of Skr’s “Pathan” to become the highest Bollywood earner ever. It may end up as the fourth-biggest Indian earner worldwide, behind only “Rrr,” “Kgf 2” and “Baahubali: The Conclusion.”
That makes two-for-two for Shah Rukh Khan, with a third film, “Dunki,” from “3 Idiots” director Raju Hirani arriving in December. Srk might release three movies in one year that end up becoming the first, second and third-biggest Bollywood films ever. That’s movie stardom on an unheard-of scale.
Considering Bollywood’s recent box office slump, Srk is almost single-handedly keeping it in the game.
The picture concerns a would-be Robin Hood committing public crimes to bring attention to pressing social issues.
That makes two-for-two for Shah Rukh Khan, with a third film, “Dunki,” from “3 Idiots” director Raju Hirani arriving in December. Srk might release three movies in one year that end up becoming the first, second and third-biggest Bollywood films ever. That’s movie stardom on an unheard-of scale.
Considering Bollywood’s recent box office slump, Srk is almost single-handedly keeping it in the game.
The picture concerns a would-be Robin Hood committing public crimes to bring attention to pressing social issues.
- 9/23/2023
- by Scott Mendelson
- The Wrap
Scalpers are gouging buyers for the Toronto International Film Festival tickets — with screening prices rising by the minute, according to a review of online prices Tuesday.
On Monday, some of the premiere films were sold out on Ticketmaster, with scalpers demanding 10 times face value for some tickets — a bargain compared to the latest prices.
By Tuesday, tickets for The Boy and the Heron had topped $527 — more than a $200 increase. Meanwhile, tickets for “Dumb Money” were going for nearly $900.
Writer and filmmaker Siddhant Adlakha put a spotlight on the gouging, calling it “genuinely insane.”
“Ticketmaster is a scourge and using it as an official ticketing platform for a film festival is incredibly bizarre. It’s genuinely insane that people are allowed to buy and re-sell TIFF tickets pretty much the day they go on sale. The new Miyazaki (film) is going for over $300 US.” Adlakha wrote.
He was referring to Hayao Miyazaki...
On Monday, some of the premiere films were sold out on Ticketmaster, with scalpers demanding 10 times face value for some tickets — a bargain compared to the latest prices.
By Tuesday, tickets for The Boy and the Heron had topped $527 — more than a $200 increase. Meanwhile, tickets for “Dumb Money” were going for nearly $900.
Writer and filmmaker Siddhant Adlakha put a spotlight on the gouging, calling it “genuinely insane.”
“Ticketmaster is a scourge and using it as an official ticketing platform for a film festival is incredibly bizarre. It’s genuinely insane that people are allowed to buy and re-sell TIFF tickets pretty much the day they go on sale. The new Miyazaki (film) is going for over $300 US.” Adlakha wrote.
He was referring to Hayao Miyazaki...
- 8/29/2023
- by Tina Daunt
- The Wrap
The Toronto International Film Festival is using Ticketmaster to book seats this year, and even though opening night is more than a week away, tickets for high-profile films are already going for more than ten times their face value.
Festivalgoers are not happy about the high resale prices already popping up.
Opening night film “The Boy and the Heron” from Hayao Miyazaki is sold out on TIFF’s ticketing site via Ticketmaster, but tickets are going for up to $388 Canadian ($285) on ticket reselling site Stubhub. Taika Waititi’s “Next Goal Wins” is going for even more, at $416.50 Cad on Ticketmaster.
The premiere of Sylvester Stallone’s documentary “Sly” on Sept. 15 still has tickets available directly for $88 Cad, but Ticketmaster is also reselling others for up to $178.50 Cad.
Writer and filmmaker Siddhant Adlakha brought attention to the high resale prices Monday, tweeting, “Ticketmaster is a scourge and using it as an...
Festivalgoers are not happy about the high resale prices already popping up.
Opening night film “The Boy and the Heron” from Hayao Miyazaki is sold out on TIFF’s ticketing site via Ticketmaster, but tickets are going for up to $388 Canadian ($285) on ticket reselling site Stubhub. Taika Waititi’s “Next Goal Wins” is going for even more, at $416.50 Cad on Ticketmaster.
The premiere of Sylvester Stallone’s documentary “Sly” on Sept. 15 still has tickets available directly for $88 Cad, but Ticketmaster is also reselling others for up to $178.50 Cad.
Writer and filmmaker Siddhant Adlakha brought attention to the high resale prices Monday, tweeting, “Ticketmaster is a scourge and using it as an...
- 8/28/2023
- by Pat Saperstein
- Variety Film + TV
“Perd Hapley is the lynchpin of an unlikely TV multiverse” is the name of the article you’re reading. And it will begin … right now.
NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation features the deepest bench of hilarious supporting characters you’ll ever see outside of The Simpsons‘ Springfield. But even among a murderer’s row of comedic talent like Joan Callamezzo (Mo Collins), Jean-Ralphio Saperstein (Ben Schwartz), and Tammy II Swanson (Megan Mullally), there’s one resident of Pawnee who stands head and shoulders above the rest.
Local news broadcaster Perd Hapley (Jay Jackson) is quite simply a TV icon. Blessed with a very distinct vocal style (that the Parks and Rec fandom Wiki accurately categorizes as “semantically redundant”), Perd often turns up on Parks and Recreation to help describe what’s happening … literally.
As the host of venerated south central Indiana TV institutions like Ya Heard? With Perd!, The Final Word With Perd,...
NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation features the deepest bench of hilarious supporting characters you’ll ever see outside of The Simpsons‘ Springfield. But even among a murderer’s row of comedic talent like Joan Callamezzo (Mo Collins), Jean-Ralphio Saperstein (Ben Schwartz), and Tammy II Swanson (Megan Mullally), there’s one resident of Pawnee who stands head and shoulders above the rest.
Local news broadcaster Perd Hapley (Jay Jackson) is quite simply a TV icon. Blessed with a very distinct vocal style (that the Parks and Rec fandom Wiki accurately categorizes as “semantically redundant”), Perd often turns up on Parks and Recreation to help describe what’s happening … literally.
As the host of venerated south central Indiana TV institutions like Ya Heard? With Perd!, The Final Word With Perd,...
- 8/21/2023
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
When you ask someone about their favorite Pixar film, the answer usually says less about the movie than it does about the person. The legendary animation studio has remained at the top of its game for years because of how its films use their big high-concept ideas to explore fundamental truths. A comedy about talking toys becomes a story about friendship and growing up; a kid’s movie about fish becomes an emotional tale of fatherhood; a film about a rat that likes to cook becomes a sneakily profound story about the nature of art and inspiration. The movies become very personal to each viewer, especially for those who’ve grown up with Pixar’s work and have seen its releases serve as milestones in their lives.
That said, even the biggest Pixar fan alive could probably admit that the studio has been going through a (more than) slight rough...
That said, even the biggest Pixar fan alive could probably admit that the studio has been going through a (more than) slight rough...
- 6/21/2023
- by Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
On June 16, 2023, Pixar Animation Studios and Walt Disney Studios released “Elemental,” which features the voices of Leah Lewis, Mamoudou Athie, Ronnie del Carmen, Shila Ommi, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Catherine O’Hara, Mason Wertheimer, Joe Pera, and Matt Yang King. Directed by Peter Sohn, the film centers on two elements (Ember and Wade) that are literally fire and water, a relationship that is frowned upon in society. The duo works to maintain their relationship despite the expectations of society.
At the 76th Cannes Film Festival, the film was screened for critics to mixed reviews, but those have trended upward upon national release resulting in a Rotten Tomatoes score of 76%. General audiences are more favorable, grading it at 92% fresh. Read our full review round-up below.
See Box office preview: ‘The Flash,’ ‘Elemental,’ ‘The Blackening’ will keep the summer movie love going
Matt Neglia of Next Best Picture praises the film, stating, “The feature directorial debut of Peter Sohn,...
At the 76th Cannes Film Festival, the film was screened for critics to mixed reviews, but those have trended upward upon national release resulting in a Rotten Tomatoes score of 76%. General audiences are more favorable, grading it at 92% fresh. Read our full review round-up below.
See Box office preview: ‘The Flash,’ ‘Elemental,’ ‘The Blackening’ will keep the summer movie love going
Matt Neglia of Next Best Picture praises the film, stating, “The feature directorial debut of Peter Sohn,...
- 6/16/2023
- by Vincent Mandile
- Gold Derby
The team behind “Coco” has a new coming-of-age tearjerker in the works for Pixar. “Elio,” the 28th animated feature from the legendary studio, is directed by Adrian Molina who wrote and co-helmed 2018 Oscar-winning film.
“Elio” is centered around the titular 11-year-old underdog (voiced by Yonas Kibreab), who has an active imagination and is beamed up to the Communiverse, an interplanetary organization with representatives from various galaxies. The official synopsis reads: Mistakenly identified as Earth’s ambassador to the rest of the universe, and completely unprepared for that kind of pressure, Elio must form new bonds with eccentric alien lifeforms, survive a series of formidable trials and somehow discover who he is truly meant to be.
America Ferrera voices Elio’s mother Olga, with Jameela Jamil and Brad Garrett cast as intergalactic ambassadors.
In addition to Molina, “Coco” associate producer Mary Alice Drumm also produces “Elio.”
“Elio” joins the slew of upcoming Disney/Pixar projects,...
“Elio” is centered around the titular 11-year-old underdog (voiced by Yonas Kibreab), who has an active imagination and is beamed up to the Communiverse, an interplanetary organization with representatives from various galaxies. The official synopsis reads: Mistakenly identified as Earth’s ambassador to the rest of the universe, and completely unprepared for that kind of pressure, Elio must form new bonds with eccentric alien lifeforms, survive a series of formidable trials and somehow discover who he is truly meant to be.
America Ferrera voices Elio’s mother Olga, with Jameela Jamil and Brad Garrett cast as intergalactic ambassadors.
In addition to Molina, “Coco” associate producer Mary Alice Drumm also produces “Elio.”
“Elio” joins the slew of upcoming Disney/Pixar projects,...
- 6/13/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
This year’s Cannes has come to an end, but its ripple effects will be felt across the rest of the year, as the the 2023 edition of the ultra-prestigious festival played host to a deep and extraordinary array of premieres from some of the world’s greatest filmmakers, several of whom were debuting new work for the first time in the better part of a decade (or longer).
In most cases, the wait proved worth it. “The Zone of Interest” director Jonathan Glazer stunned the Croisette with his much-anticipated follow-up to 2013’s “Under the Skin,” while the likes of Aki Kaurismäki, Catherine Breillat, Tran Anh Hung, and Martin Scorsese — whose epic “Killers of the Flower Moon” only felt like it was forever in the making — all returned with major triumphs that reminded us of their singular brilliance. Even Cannes mainstays like Hirokazu Kore-eda, Wes Anderson, and Palme d’Or-winner Justine Triet...
In most cases, the wait proved worth it. “The Zone of Interest” director Jonathan Glazer stunned the Croisette with his much-anticipated follow-up to 2013’s “Under the Skin,” while the likes of Aki Kaurismäki, Catherine Breillat, Tran Anh Hung, and Martin Scorsese — whose epic “Killers of the Flower Moon” only felt like it was forever in the making — all returned with major triumphs that reminded us of their singular brilliance. Even Cannes mainstays like Hirokazu Kore-eda, Wes Anderson, and Palme d’Or-winner Justine Triet...
- 5/29/2023
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
This year’s Cannes has its first crowd-pleasing winner, even if Pedro Almodóvar’s “Strange Way of Life” is technically not a feature-length film.
Starring Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal, the 31-minute western concerns a cowboy riding across the desert to visit a lifelong friend who realizes that his old pal wants to be more than friends. The short feature marks Almodóvar’s second English-language offering following the 2020 feature “The Human Voice” starring Tilda Swinton.
Judging by the immediate post-screening response, next year’s Oscars may have a front-runner for Best Short Film.
Speaking previously on the Dua Lipa podcast, the filmmaker stated that “it’s a queer Western, in the sense that there are two men and they love each other. It’s about masculinity in a deep sense because the Western is a male genre.”
He continued, in sentiments that echoed his post-screening conversation on Wednesday, “What I...
Starring Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal, the 31-minute western concerns a cowboy riding across the desert to visit a lifelong friend who realizes that his old pal wants to be more than friends. The short feature marks Almodóvar’s second English-language offering following the 2020 feature “The Human Voice” starring Tilda Swinton.
Judging by the immediate post-screening response, next year’s Oscars may have a front-runner for Best Short Film.
Speaking previously on the Dua Lipa podcast, the filmmaker stated that “it’s a queer Western, in the sense that there are two men and they love each other. It’s about masculinity in a deep sense because the Western is a male genre.”
He continued, in sentiments that echoed his post-screening conversation on Wednesday, “What I...
- 5/17/2023
- by Scott Mendelson
- The Wrap
“Fire Island” is about to, uh, catch fire at this year’s Emmys. The telefilm, which aired on Hulu last June, is certain to be nominated for Best TV Movie and could well win that top honor. The flick follows a group of Lgbtqia+ friends who head to Fire Island Pines for their annual trip full of sex, fun, and drugs. But when their usual trip is disrupted, they have to make this final trip their best ever. Joel Kim Booster does double duty as both writer and star of this heartfelt film, which he loosely based on “Pride & Prejudice.” Andrew Ahn directs while Margaret Cho, Matt Rogers, Conrad Ricamora, and “Saturday Night Live” star Bowen Yang all costar.
Booster play Noah, who is out just for fun and frolic until he makes a promise to best friend Howie (Yang) that he won’t have sex again until Howie breaks his dry spell.
Booster play Noah, who is out just for fun and frolic until he makes a promise to best friend Howie (Yang) that he won’t have sex again until Howie breaks his dry spell.
- 3/29/2023
- by Jacob Sarkisian
- Gold Derby
Before the summer movie season consumes the local multiplex, discerning cinephiles and festival fans can bone up on some of the best films of the year, thanks to the always-excellent slate on offer at this year’s New Directors/New Films festival. Over the course of the New York City festival, it will play home to films from 41 directors, including 27 features and 11 shorts.
As ever, this year’s Nd/Nf features a variety of films from around the festival circuit, Sundance to Cannes, Venice to Berlin, and more. The 52nd edition of the festival kicks off this week with Savannah Leaf’s A24 drama “Earth Mama” and concludes with Vuk Lungulov-Klotz’s trans coming-of-age story “Mutt.” In between, film fans can see projects from rising stars, fresh voices, and finally (finally!) get to check out gems like “Joyland,” “Totem,” and “Disco Boy.”
The 52nd edition of New Directors/New Films...
As ever, this year’s Nd/Nf features a variety of films from around the festival circuit, Sundance to Cannes, Venice to Berlin, and more. The 52nd edition of the festival kicks off this week with Savannah Leaf’s A24 drama “Earth Mama” and concludes with Vuk Lungulov-Klotz’s trans coming-of-age story “Mutt.” In between, film fans can see projects from rising stars, fresh voices, and finally (finally!) get to check out gems like “Joyland,” “Totem,” and “Disco Boy.”
The 52nd edition of New Directors/New Films...
- 3/28/2023
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Sam Neill’s new memoir “Did I Ever Tell You This?” has offered movie fans a look down memory lane with anecdotes from some of the 20th century’s biggest movies, including “Jurassic Park” and “The Piano.” But the book also finds time to look to the future, as Neill offers a hint about a new project that might be on the way.
Neill briefly touches on his experience filming “Jurassic World: Dominion,” the 2022 sequel that also saw Jeff Goldblum and Laura Dern reprising their original “Jurassic Park” roles. He also teases that a new, longer cut of the film could be in the works.
“Colin Trevorrow, the director of ‘Jurassic World Dominion,’ a very nice man, dropped me a line recently,” Neill wrote. “He is working on a longer cut, for the fans. I thought it was quite long already, with a lot of characters and even more dinosaurs,...
Neill briefly touches on his experience filming “Jurassic World: Dominion,” the 2022 sequel that also saw Jeff Goldblum and Laura Dern reprising their original “Jurassic Park” roles. He also teases that a new, longer cut of the film could be in the works.
“Colin Trevorrow, the director of ‘Jurassic World Dominion,’ a very nice man, dropped me a line recently,” Neill wrote. “He is working on a longer cut, for the fans. I thought it was quite long already, with a lot of characters and even more dinosaurs,...
- 3/26/2023
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
Despite being snubbed for India’s Best International Feature submission, “Rrr” got its well-deserved moment in the Oscar spotlight on Sunday night when M.M. Keeravani’s song “Naatu Naatu” received the Academy Award for Best Original Song. The energetic musical number became a viral hit thanks to the electric duet performance from Ram Charan and N.T. Rama Rao Jr, and excitement around the song only grew as the film slowly built a following out of streaming audiences from around the globe.
The award marks the culmination of “Rrr” director S.S. Rajamouli’s long working relationship with Keeravani. Speaking to IndieWire, Rajamouli recalled the way that his relationship with his longtime composer made it easy to discuss the narrative context in which the song takes place to deliver a more impactful musical number.
“Bheem is being humiliated, he’s an innocent guy,” Rajamouli said. “He’s a great dancer, but he...
The award marks the culmination of “Rrr” director S.S. Rajamouli’s long working relationship with Keeravani. Speaking to IndieWire, Rajamouli recalled the way that his relationship with his longtime composer made it easy to discuss the narrative context in which the song takes place to deliver a more impactful musical number.
“Bheem is being humiliated, he’s an innocent guy,” Rajamouli said. “He’s a great dancer, but he...
- 3/13/2023
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
Shah Rukh Khan just reclaimed his status as one of India’s biggest butts-in-seats draws after a four-year absence from movies.
Director Siddharth Anand’s action spectacular “Pathaan,” a loosely connected installment in India’s ongoing Yrf Spy Universe series, earned 77 million in its first week of global release. The immediate success both reaffirmed Khan’s bankability and provided a much-needed jolt to a struggling Bollywood industry.
Khan was a name synonymous with Bollywood in the 1990s and 2000s. However, as explained by film critic and pop culture journalist Siddhant Adlakha, he was known more as a romantic lead than as an action hero.
“The comparison is closer to Tom Cruise of the 1980s and 1990s,” argued Adlakha, “when he became a star through films like ‘The Firm’ and ‘Jerry Maguire,’ as opposed to the last two decades during which Cruise has primarily made action flicks like ‘Edge of Tomorrow’ and the ‘Mission: Impossible’ sequels.
Director Siddharth Anand’s action spectacular “Pathaan,” a loosely connected installment in India’s ongoing Yrf Spy Universe series, earned 77 million in its first week of global release. The immediate success both reaffirmed Khan’s bankability and provided a much-needed jolt to a struggling Bollywood industry.
Khan was a name synonymous with Bollywood in the 1990s and 2000s. However, as explained by film critic and pop culture journalist Siddhant Adlakha, he was known more as a romantic lead than as an action hero.
“The comparison is closer to Tom Cruise of the 1980s and 1990s,” argued Adlakha, “when he became a star through films like ‘The Firm’ and ‘Jerry Maguire,’ as opposed to the last two decades during which Cruise has primarily made action flicks like ‘Edge of Tomorrow’ and the ‘Mission: Impossible’ sequels.
- 2/3/2023
- by Scott Mendelson
- The Wrap
India may be slowly positioning itself as Hollywood’s next international target for a box office boost.
“Avatar: The Way of Water” has set another box office record in India with a 55 million-and-counting running total. The U.S. gross is still second behind “Avengers: Endgame” and its 62 million gross in 2019. However, it has earned more in Indian currency than the MCU sequel, making it the most successful Hollywood movie ever in India.
While James Cameron’s 3D sequel has rebounded in China, with 193 million-and-counting and a just-announced extension through the Lunar New Year on Jan. 22, it continues a pattern of Hollywood films earning far less than previously expected pre-covid in what is still the biggest overseas marketplace.
Disney
“The financial allure of China is waning, and Hollywood is a few steps behind,” Asian Studies professor Deepak Sarma of Case Western Reserve University told TheWrap. We’ve already seen rumblings of...
“Avatar: The Way of Water” has set another box office record in India with a 55 million-and-counting running total. The U.S. gross is still second behind “Avengers: Endgame” and its 62 million gross in 2019. However, it has earned more in Indian currency than the MCU sequel, making it the most successful Hollywood movie ever in India.
While James Cameron’s 3D sequel has rebounded in China, with 193 million-and-counting and a just-announced extension through the Lunar New Year on Jan. 22, it continues a pattern of Hollywood films earning far less than previously expected pre-covid in what is still the biggest overseas marketplace.
Disney
“The financial allure of China is waning, and Hollywood is a few steps behind,” Asian Studies professor Deepak Sarma of Case Western Reserve University told TheWrap. We’ve already seen rumblings of...
- 1/13/2023
- by Scott Mendelson
- The Wrap
The longest-acting movie awards voting committee got it done in about 3½ hours this year, with the New York Film Critics Circle finally naming Focus Features’ Tár as Best film of 2022. The movie, which reps filmmaker Todd Fields return to the camera in 16 years also saw its star Cate Blanchett win Best Actress.
The NYFCC is known for bestowing wins to indie movies and the org can take as long as five hours to deliberate on the day they announce wins. Whatever film the group names as Best Picture doesn’t always translate to an Oscar Best Picture win; the last title to do so was 2011’s The Artist.
Related Story 2022-23 Awards Season Calendar – Dates For The Oscars, Golden Globes, Guilds & More Related Story Jim Jarmusch Gives Rare Masterclass In Marrakech Related Story Colin Farrell To Receive Palm Springs Film Festival Gala Actor Award
That’s not to say their...
The NYFCC is known for bestowing wins to indie movies and the org can take as long as five hours to deliberate on the day they announce wins. Whatever film the group names as Best Picture doesn’t always translate to an Oscar Best Picture win; the last title to do so was 2011’s The Artist.
Related Story 2022-23 Awards Season Calendar – Dates For The Oscars, Golden Globes, Guilds & More Related Story Jim Jarmusch Gives Rare Masterclass In Marrakech Related Story Colin Farrell To Receive Palm Springs Film Festival Gala Actor Award
That’s not to say their...
- 12/2/2022
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
[Editor’s note: This list was originally published on June 30, 2022. It was updated on October 6, 2022 to reflect new inclusions.]
Googly eyes. High-flying fighter jets. Terrifying aliens. Genies in bottles (and beyond). Lovable robots and wild red pandas. Medieval tweens. Meat. Romance. Dancing. Incredibly bad vacations. Farts. Freedom. The first nine months (and change) of 2022 have already gifted film fans with a wide array of incredible cinematic offerings, and there’s still plenty of titles yet to arrive on a screen near you.
Some of our favorite filmmakers have returned to the cinema with fresh visions, including everyone from Kogonada to Andrea Arnold, David Cronenberg to Daniels, Terence Davies to Peter Strickland, Lena Dunham to George Miller. And there have been plenty of new names to admire, too, including Audrey Diwan, Panah Panahi, Mimi Cave, John Patton Ford, Owen Kline, Adamma Ebo, and Jerrod Carmichael, all of whom have bowed debuts that make us feel hopeful for the future of film.
A handful of the films that have already earned...
Googly eyes. High-flying fighter jets. Terrifying aliens. Genies in bottles (and beyond). Lovable robots and wild red pandas. Medieval tweens. Meat. Romance. Dancing. Incredibly bad vacations. Farts. Freedom. The first nine months (and change) of 2022 have already gifted film fans with a wide array of incredible cinematic offerings, and there’s still plenty of titles yet to arrive on a screen near you.
Some of our favorite filmmakers have returned to the cinema with fresh visions, including everyone from Kogonada to Andrea Arnold, David Cronenberg to Daniels, Terence Davies to Peter Strickland, Lena Dunham to George Miller. And there have been plenty of new names to admire, too, including Audrey Diwan, Panah Panahi, Mimi Cave, John Patton Ford, Owen Kline, Adamma Ebo, and Jerrod Carmichael, all of whom have bowed debuts that make us feel hopeful for the future of film.
A handful of the films that have already earned...
- 10/6/2022
- by Kate Erbland and David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
There’s no denying it: the star-packed, film-crammed, totally wild fall movie-going season is back. While the previous two pandemic years have provided plenty of new films across all seasons and tastes, 2022 marks the first time in a long time that our most-anticipated list of films coming out this fall season pushed up to 60 titles.
Even more edifying: the range of films on offer. Of course, this preview includes a number of fall festival premieres and “awards” titles, but we’ve got a range of smaller picks, genuine curiosities, and even the odd remake to get excited about. We’ve got Sundance favorites and Cannes debuts, a donkey with a heart of gold, a pair of highly anticipated superhero movies, and Steven Spielberg revisiting his childhood (again! and we’re all better for it!). The Harvey Weinstein case gets a film, Rosaline gets her due, and a bunch of rich...
Even more edifying: the range of films on offer. Of course, this preview includes a number of fall festival premieres and “awards” titles, but we’ve got a range of smaller picks, genuine curiosities, and even the odd remake to get excited about. We’ve got Sundance favorites and Cannes debuts, a donkey with a heart of gold, a pair of highly anticipated superhero movies, and Steven Spielberg revisiting his childhood (again! and we’re all better for it!). The Harvey Weinstein case gets a film, Rosaline gets her due, and a bunch of rich...
- 8/30/2022
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Wednesday night was the premiere of “The Gray Man,” the Russo Brothers’ ambitious action thriller that, with a budget of 200 million, is the most expensive movie Netflix has ever made. On Thursday, the review embargo for the film lifted, bringing with it a generally underwhelmed response from critics.
The film stars Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans as Court Gentry and Lloyd Hansen. Gentry is on the run from Hansen after coming into possession of top-secret CIA information, and Hansen is unforgiving in his efforts to chase Gentry down. Ana de Armas also stars as Dani Miranda, alongside Regé-Jean Page, Jessica Henwick, Julia Butters, Dhanush, Alfre Woodard and Billy Bob Thornton.
Overall, most critics agree that “The Gray Man” is an over-the-top attempt by Netflix to capture the magic of blockbuster thrillers like the 007 movies. Gosling, Evans, de Armas and their co-stars show their talents, but the majority of reviews...
The film stars Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans as Court Gentry and Lloyd Hansen. Gentry is on the run from Hansen after coming into possession of top-secret CIA information, and Hansen is unforgiving in his efforts to chase Gentry down. Ana de Armas also stars as Dani Miranda, alongside Regé-Jean Page, Jessica Henwick, Julia Butters, Dhanush, Alfre Woodard and Billy Bob Thornton.
Overall, most critics agree that “The Gray Man” is an over-the-top attempt by Netflix to capture the magic of blockbuster thrillers like the 007 movies. Gosling, Evans, de Armas and their co-stars show their talents, but the majority of reviews...
- 7/14/2022
- by Sasha Urban
- Variety Film + TV
Netflix may get most of the attention, but it’s hardly a one-stop shop for cinephiles looking to stream essential classic and contemporary films. Each of the prominent streaming platforms caters to its own niche of film obsessives.
From the boundless wonders of the Criterion Channel to the new frontiers of streaming offered by the likes of Disney+ and HBO Max, IndieWire’s monthly guide highlights the best of what’s coming to every major streamer, with an eye toward exclusive titles that may help readers decide which of these services is right for them.
Here is your guide for May 2022.
Siddhant Adlakha, Kate Erbland, and Chris O’Falt contributed to this article.
From the boundless wonders of the Criterion Channel to the new frontiers of streaming offered by the likes of Disney+ and HBO Max, IndieWire’s monthly guide highlights the best of what’s coming to every major streamer, with an eye toward exclusive titles that may help readers decide which of these services is right for them.
Here is your guide for May 2022.
Siddhant Adlakha, Kate Erbland, and Chris O’Falt contributed to this article.
- 5/13/2022
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
James Morosini’s “I Love My Dad,” a comedy starring Patton Oswalt, has been acquired by Magnolia Pictures, the distributor said Tuesday.
The film recently won the Grand Jury prize at SXSW 2022. Magnolia has set a release for theaters on August 5 and for on-demand on August 12.
“I Love My Dad” is the feature debut by writer, director and star Morosini (also an actor known for “The Sex Lives of College Girls”), and the film stars Oswalt as an estranged father who, desperate to reconnect with his depressive son, inadvertently catfishes him online, pretending to be a waitress that his son inevitably falls for. The screenplay is based on Morosini’s own, true-life relationship with his father.
The narrative feature jury for the festival, which was led by Sheri Linden, Siddhant Adlakha and Jenelle Riley, said that “I Love My Dad” is a “bold, funny film” and an “impressive” debut.
“Morosini...
The film recently won the Grand Jury prize at SXSW 2022. Magnolia has set a release for theaters on August 5 and for on-demand on August 12.
“I Love My Dad” is the feature debut by writer, director and star Morosini (also an actor known for “The Sex Lives of College Girls”), and the film stars Oswalt as an estranged father who, desperate to reconnect with his depressive son, inadvertently catfishes him online, pretending to be a waitress that his son inevitably falls for. The screenplay is based on Morosini’s own, true-life relationship with his father.
The narrative feature jury for the festival, which was led by Sheri Linden, Siddhant Adlakha and Jenelle Riley, said that “I Love My Dad” is a “bold, funny film” and an “impressive” debut.
“Morosini...
- 4/19/2022
- by Umberto Gonzalez
- The Wrap
The South by Southwest 2022 Film Festival grand jury awarded James Morosini’s “I Love My Dad,” a comedy starring Patton Oswalt, its top jury prize in the festival’s Narrative Feature Competition.
Among some of the other top film prizes, “Master of Light” about painter George Anthony Morton and directed by Rosa Ruth Boesten won the Documentary Feature Competition jury prize, Tang Yi’s “All the Crows in the World” won the Narrative Short Competition, and “Long Line of Ladies” from directors Rayka Zehtabchi and Shaandiin Tome won the Documentary Short Competition.
“I Love My Dad” is the feature debut by writer, director and star Morosini (also an actor known for “The Sex Lives of College Girls”), and the film stars Oswalt as an estranged father who, desperate to reconnect with his depressive son, inadvertently catfishes him online, pretending to be a waitress that his son inevitably falls for. The...
Among some of the other top film prizes, “Master of Light” about painter George Anthony Morton and directed by Rosa Ruth Boesten won the Documentary Feature Competition jury prize, Tang Yi’s “All the Crows in the World” won the Narrative Short Competition, and “Long Line of Ladies” from directors Rayka Zehtabchi and Shaandiin Tome won the Documentary Short Competition.
“I Love My Dad” is the feature debut by writer, director and star Morosini (also an actor known for “The Sex Lives of College Girls”), and the film stars Oswalt as an estranged father who, desperate to reconnect with his depressive son, inadvertently catfishes him online, pretending to be a waitress that his son inevitably falls for. The...
- 3/16/2022
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
As the New York Film Festival wrapped late last weekend, the bulk of the fall film festival season has now come to a close after a dizzying few weeks that saw Venice, Telluride, Toronto, New York, and the more genre-leaning Fantastic Fest roll out in somewhat normal fashion. While some of this year’s festival lineups were understandably truncated and some of the buzziest titles arrived at events with distribution already in hand (as was the case with many of the biggest titles at Venice and NYFF), a number of hot titles are still looking for homes.
These films include some of IndieWire’s favorites from the past few weeks, including both new and established talents, exciting features for distributors looking for awards contenders or simply to get into biz with bright talents on the rise, and much more. Open up those pocketbooks, and take a chance on these standouts.
These films include some of IndieWire’s favorites from the past few weeks, including both new and established talents, exciting features for distributors looking for awards contenders or simply to get into biz with bright talents on the rise, and much more. Open up those pocketbooks, and take a chance on these standouts.
- 10/12/2021
- by Kate Erbland, Eric Kohn and David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
The passing of famed “Blade Runner” actor Rutger Hauer has prompted an outpouring of tributes from filmmakers, actors, and fans on Twitter, honoring a career highlighted by one of the most famous monologues in sci-fi history.
Director Guillermo Del Toro praised Hauer as “an intense, deep, genuine and magnetic actor that brought truth, power and beauty to his films.” “Law and Order: Svu” star Ice-t reflected on the time he worked with Hauer on the action film “Surviving the Game,” while Kiss frontman Gene Simmons posted a picture of a VHS copy of “Wanted Dead or Alive,” in which the rock star played a terrorist being hunted down by a CIA agent played by Hauer.
Hauer’s “Blade Runner” co-star Daryl Hannah said in a statement to Fox News Wednesday, “I have a profound love and respect for Rutger Hauer. I am heartbroken to learn he has left us. He was unpredictable,...
Director Guillermo Del Toro praised Hauer as “an intense, deep, genuine and magnetic actor that brought truth, power and beauty to his films.” “Law and Order: Svu” star Ice-t reflected on the time he worked with Hauer on the action film “Surviving the Game,” while Kiss frontman Gene Simmons posted a picture of a VHS copy of “Wanted Dead or Alive,” in which the rock star played a terrorist being hunted down by a CIA agent played by Hauer.
Hauer’s “Blade Runner” co-star Daryl Hannah said in a statement to Fox News Wednesday, “I have a profound love and respect for Rutger Hauer. I am heartbroken to learn he has left us. He was unpredictable,...
- 7/24/2019
- by Jeremy Fuster
- The Wrap
Every week, IndieWire asks a select handful of film critics two questions and publishes the results on Monday.
This week’s question: In honor of “BlacKkKlansman,” which opens in theaters this Friday, what is Spike Lee’s best film?
“4 Little Girls” (1997) Jacqueline Coley (@THATJacqueline), Rotten Tomatoes
I was sorely tempted to choose “Do The Right Thing” as Spike Lee’s best film and it seems the logical choice. What Spike did with “Do The Right Thing” forever changed cinema, for filmmakers everywhere, but especially for African Americans. It’s brilliant, that’s beyond dispute but, it’s not his best.
His best is a quiet little documentary he released in 1997 about 4 little girls who were murdered by the Kkk in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963. “4 Little Girls” power is in the faces. The faces of girl’s families the member of the Civil rights movements and are impossible to shake.
This week’s question: In honor of “BlacKkKlansman,” which opens in theaters this Friday, what is Spike Lee’s best film?
“4 Little Girls” (1997) Jacqueline Coley (@THATJacqueline), Rotten Tomatoes
I was sorely tempted to choose “Do The Right Thing” as Spike Lee’s best film and it seems the logical choice. What Spike did with “Do The Right Thing” forever changed cinema, for filmmakers everywhere, but especially for African Americans. It’s brilliant, that’s beyond dispute but, it’s not his best.
His best is a quiet little documentary he released in 1997 about 4 little girls who were murdered by the Kkk in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963. “4 Little Girls” power is in the faces. The faces of girl’s families the member of the Civil rights movements and are impossible to shake.
- 8/6/2018
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSThe controversial production of Russian director Ilya Khrzhanovskiy's Dau has come to an end, and there is now a trailer and a promotional website to prove it. The film was rumored to have taken nearly twelve years, recruiting a cast and crew of thousands in an isolated town that recreated life in the 1950s Soviet Union. Dau will likely be released as multiple films and a television series, but the new trailer presents it as primarily an "experiment." As Siddhant Adlakha says in his 2017 dissection of the film, "the remaining details, both factual and emotional, are still speculation that falls in the realm of audience interpretation." Professor and Kubrick expert Nathan Abrams has discovered the presumably lost screenplay to Kubrick's Burning Secret, an adaptation of a 1913 novella by Viennese writer Stefan Zweig. Long...
- 7/18/2018
- MUBI
Tell somebody there’s a forthcoming film based on the life of a Nobel-winning scientist and their reaction, after years of one awards-hungry title whose interests in cinema are far smaller than their interest in ephemeral plaudits after another, is probably muted. Evidence of any way it expands the familiar scope even a little bit seems notable; those show up every so often. But there’s probably never been anything like Dau, a very long, very mammoth, perhaps actually insane production from director Ilya Khrzhanovsky that saw actors and crew, styled in period-accurate material, recreate Soviet-era Moscow in a 130,000-square-foot warehouse for a number of years — during which time they neither could neither leave nor speak of the modern world — until 2011 and underwent all sorts of post-production finangling, reportedly with “feature films, TV series and a slate of science and art documentaries, as well as a trans-media project” in mind.
- 7/11/2018
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Depending on who you ask, the experiment has been going on for two years, eight years, 12 years. There have been hundreds of people, or maybe thousands involved. There is a film at its center, or perhaps multiple films and also a “slate” of television series. It’s real, or it’s not real, but it does exist. It’s “Dau,” the insane Ukrainian film production that, at the very least, hired scores of people to participate in an artistic endeavor that, by its very nature, consumed their lives. And now it’s got a trailer.
Here’s what’s for sure: at some point in the early aughts, Russian filmmaker Ilya Khrzhanovsky decamped to the Ukrainian city of Kharkov, where he set up something — he calls it The Institute — in the outskirts of town. He hired people (lots of people) to partake in his vision, which involved recreating ’50s and...
Here’s what’s for sure: at some point in the early aughts, Russian filmmaker Ilya Khrzhanovsky decamped to the Ukrainian city of Kharkov, where he set up something — he calls it The Institute — in the outskirts of town. He hired people (lots of people) to partake in his vision, which involved recreating ’50s and...
- 7/11/2018
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Every week, IndieWire asks a select handful of film critics two questions and publishes the results on Monday..
This past weekend saw the release of “Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda,” the latest in a recent string of impressively strong and commercially successful biographical documentaries (other recent standouts include “Rbg” and “Won’t You Be my Neighbor?”).
This week’s question: What is the best biographical documentary ever made?
Siddhant Adlakha (@SidizenKane), Freelance for The Village Voice, /Film
The best and arguably most important documentaries ever made are complimentary pieces by Joshua Oppenheimer, “The Act of Killing” (2013) and “The Look of Silence (2015). They’re set against the backdrop of Indonesia’s 1965-66 genocide, believed to be sponsored by the C.I.A., but they’re each rooted in the lives of singular subjects and their diametrically opposed journeys.
The cleansing, of an estimated three million ethnic Chinese, changed the face of the nation in terrifying ways,...
This past weekend saw the release of “Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda,” the latest in a recent string of impressively strong and commercially successful biographical documentaries (other recent standouts include “Rbg” and “Won’t You Be my Neighbor?”).
This week’s question: What is the best biographical documentary ever made?
Siddhant Adlakha (@SidizenKane), Freelance for The Village Voice, /Film
The best and arguably most important documentaries ever made are complimentary pieces by Joshua Oppenheimer, “The Act of Killing” (2013) and “The Look of Silence (2015). They’re set against the backdrop of Indonesia’s 1965-66 genocide, believed to be sponsored by the C.I.A., but they’re each rooted in the lives of singular subjects and their diametrically opposed journeys.
The cleansing, of an estimated three million ethnic Chinese, changed the face of the nation in terrifying ways,...
- 7/9/2018
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Every week, IndieWire asks a select handful of film critics two questions and publishes the results on Monday.
While this survey typically asks smart critics to direct readers toward good movies, we hope that the reverse is also true, and that these posts help movies (good or bad) direct readers towards smart critics.
In that spirit, we asked our panel of critics to reflect on their favorite piece of film criticism that they’ve ever written (and we encouraged them to put aside any sort of modesty when doing so).
Their responses provide rich and far-reaching insight into contemporary film criticism, and what those who practice it are hoping to achieve with their work.
Siddhant Adlakha (@SidizenKane), Freelance for The Village Voice and /Film
Let’s cut right to the chase. Christopher Nolan is probably my favourite working director, and going five thousand words deep on his career after “Dunkirk...
While this survey typically asks smart critics to direct readers toward good movies, we hope that the reverse is also true, and that these posts help movies (good or bad) direct readers towards smart critics.
In that spirit, we asked our panel of critics to reflect on their favorite piece of film criticism that they’ve ever written (and we encouraged them to put aside any sort of modesty when doing so).
Their responses provide rich and far-reaching insight into contemporary film criticism, and what those who practice it are hoping to achieve with their work.
Siddhant Adlakha (@SidizenKane), Freelance for The Village Voice and /Film
Let’s cut right to the chase. Christopher Nolan is probably my favourite working director, and going five thousand words deep on his career after “Dunkirk...
- 6/18/2018
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Every week, IndieWire asks a select handful of film critics two questions and publishes the results on Monday.
Last weekend saw the release of “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” a movie that at least one critic maintains is salvaged by the introduction of a brilliant new droid. On that note, what — or who? — is the greatest of all movie robots?
Charles Bramesco (@intothecrevasse), Freelance for The Guardian, Vulture, The New York Times
The only reasonable answer is Robby the Robot from “Forbidden Planet.” A trailblazer for android-kind, he was the first instance of a bag of bolts that actually had personality, charm, a sense of fully-formed character. In the sublime B-movie take on “The Tempest” that gave him his debut (he’d go on to appear as a sort of all-purpose robot in later imitators), Robby functions as a Caliban-type figure, both engrossed by and distrustful of his own Cartesian awareness.
Last weekend saw the release of “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” a movie that at least one critic maintains is salvaged by the introduction of a brilliant new droid. On that note, what — or who? — is the greatest of all movie robots?
Charles Bramesco (@intothecrevasse), Freelance for The Guardian, Vulture, The New York Times
The only reasonable answer is Robby the Robot from “Forbidden Planet.” A trailblazer for android-kind, he was the first instance of a bag of bolts that actually had personality, charm, a sense of fully-formed character. In the sublime B-movie take on “The Tempest” that gave him his debut (he’d go on to appear as a sort of all-purpose robot in later imitators), Robby functions as a Caliban-type figure, both engrossed by and distrustful of his own Cartesian awareness.
- 5/29/2018
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Every week, IndieWire asks a select handful of film critics two questions and publishes the results on Monday.
Last weekend saw the release of Claire Denis’ “Let the Sunshine In,” starring one of the only famous actors in the world *not* to appear in “Infinity War:” The great Juliette Binoche. From her indelible work with legendary auteurs like Jean-Luc Godard, Abbas Kiarostami, and Hou Hsiao-hsien, to her standout performances in more traditional fare like “The English Patient” and “Chocolate,” very few people in the film world have built such a dynamic and impressive body of work.
This week’s question: What is Juliette Binoche’s best performance?
Max Weiss (@maxthegirl), Baltimore Magazine
Holy smokes, Juliette Binoche has great taste in material! She also doesn’t give bad performances—and mostly gives great ones—so this was a toughie. I seriously considered her sexy and enigmatic performance in Abbas Kiarostami’s...
Last weekend saw the release of Claire Denis’ “Let the Sunshine In,” starring one of the only famous actors in the world *not* to appear in “Infinity War:” The great Juliette Binoche. From her indelible work with legendary auteurs like Jean-Luc Godard, Abbas Kiarostami, and Hou Hsiao-hsien, to her standout performances in more traditional fare like “The English Patient” and “Chocolate,” very few people in the film world have built such a dynamic and impressive body of work.
This week’s question: What is Juliette Binoche’s best performance?
Max Weiss (@maxthegirl), Baltimore Magazine
Holy smokes, Juliette Binoche has great taste in material! She also doesn’t give bad performances—and mostly gives great ones—so this was a toughie. I seriously considered her sexy and enigmatic performance in Abbas Kiarostami’s...
- 4/30/2018
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Every week, IndieWire asks a select handful of film critics two questions and publishes the results on Monday. (The answer to the second, “What is the best film in theaters right now?”, can be found at the end of this post.)
Last weekend saw the release of “A Quiet Place,” the premise of which is a fiendishly clever mechanism for celebrating the time-honored art of the jump-scare. Some of us love them, some of us don’t, but there’s no denying that they get the job done.
In that light, we ask: What’s the greatest jump-scare of them all?
Kristy Puchko (@KristyPuchko), Pajiba / Riot Material
“Jaws.” There’s no jump scare as thrilling and iconic as when the shark pops out of the water while Brody is grousing and shoveling chum. Spielberg abandons that chilling theme that played as warning that the beast was coming. He breaks the...
Last weekend saw the release of “A Quiet Place,” the premise of which is a fiendishly clever mechanism for celebrating the time-honored art of the jump-scare. Some of us love them, some of us don’t, but there’s no denying that they get the job done.
In that light, we ask: What’s the greatest jump-scare of them all?
Kristy Puchko (@KristyPuchko), Pajiba / Riot Material
“Jaws.” There’s no jump scare as thrilling and iconic as when the shark pops out of the water while Brody is grousing and shoveling chum. Spielberg abandons that chilling theme that played as warning that the beast was coming. He breaks the...
- 4/9/2018
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Every week, IndieWire asks a select handful of film critics two questions and publishes the results on Monday. (The answer to the second, “What is the best film in theaters right now?”, can be found at the end of this post.)
This week’s question: Inspired by a tweet from Matt Zoller Seitz, what widely despised (and/or financially disastrous) movie from the last few years will eventually be considered a classic?
Carlos Aguilar (@Carlos_Film), Freelance for MovieMaker Magazine/Remezcla
The curios case of “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” evidences how critical consensus can shift in strange ways from festival premiere to theatrical release, and how easy it is for people to jump on the backlash train. Clearly, not everyone has to love Alfonso Gomez-Rejon’s adaptation of Jesse Andrews’ novel as much as I do, but it was shocking to see how a film that was so instantly beloved at Sundance,...
This week’s question: Inspired by a tweet from Matt Zoller Seitz, what widely despised (and/or financially disastrous) movie from the last few years will eventually be considered a classic?
Carlos Aguilar (@Carlos_Film), Freelance for MovieMaker Magazine/Remezcla
The curios case of “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” evidences how critical consensus can shift in strange ways from festival premiere to theatrical release, and how easy it is for people to jump on the backlash train. Clearly, not everyone has to love Alfonso Gomez-Rejon’s adaptation of Jesse Andrews’ novel as much as I do, but it was shocking to see how a film that was so instantly beloved at Sundance,...
- 3/12/2018
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Every week, IndieWire asks a select handful of film critics two questions and publishes the results on Monday. (The answer to the second, “What is the best film in theaters right now?”, can be found at the end of this post.)
This week’s question: What is the best movie to ever win the Academy Award for Best Picture?
Joshua Rothkopf (@joshrothkopf), Time Out New York
This one’s hard for me to answer, because for every “Godfather” or “Amadeus,” there’s an overlooked “Aguirre, the Wrath of God” or “Once Upon a Time in America.” So I’ll take your question to mean: What’s the most awe-inspiring Best Picture win? And for me, that’s got to be Kathryn Bigelow’s landmark win with “The Hurt Locker,” beating “Avatar,” the highest-grossing movie in Hollywood history (which was made by her ex-husband, who she also defeated for Best Director,...
This week’s question: What is the best movie to ever win the Academy Award for Best Picture?
Joshua Rothkopf (@joshrothkopf), Time Out New York
This one’s hard for me to answer, because for every “Godfather” or “Amadeus,” there’s an overlooked “Aguirre, the Wrath of God” or “Once Upon a Time in America.” So I’ll take your question to mean: What’s the most awe-inspiring Best Picture win? And for me, that’s got to be Kathryn Bigelow’s landmark win with “The Hurt Locker,” beating “Avatar,” the highest-grossing movie in Hollywood history (which was made by her ex-husband, who she also defeated for Best Director,...
- 3/5/2018
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Every week, IndieWire asks a select handful of film critics two questions and publishes the results on Monday. (The answer to the second, “What is the best film in theaters right now?”, can be found at the end of this post.)
This week’s question: This past weekend saw the release of “Mute” and “Annihilation,” two original science-fiction movies that were made on studio budgets (an increasingly rare breed). With that in mind, what is the best sci-fi movie that most people haven’t seen?
Candice Frederick (@ReelTalker), Freelance for Vice, /Film, Thrillist, and more
“Advantageous.” Jennifer Phang directed this amazing sci-fi drama that centers Gwen, an Asian-American mother (Jacqueline Kim, who’s also the co-writer of the film) who has to come to terms with her “advanced” age in a youth-obsessed society. She has to resort to drastic and untraditional measures in order to ensure that her young daughter...
This week’s question: This past weekend saw the release of “Mute” and “Annihilation,” two original science-fiction movies that were made on studio budgets (an increasingly rare breed). With that in mind, what is the best sci-fi movie that most people haven’t seen?
Candice Frederick (@ReelTalker), Freelance for Vice, /Film, Thrillist, and more
“Advantageous.” Jennifer Phang directed this amazing sci-fi drama that centers Gwen, an Asian-American mother (Jacqueline Kim, who’s also the co-writer of the film) who has to come to terms with her “advanced” age in a youth-obsessed society. She has to resort to drastic and untraditional measures in order to ensure that her young daughter...
- 2/26/2018
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Every week, IndieWire asks a select handful of film critics two questions and publishes the results on Monday. (The answer to the second, “What is the best film in theaters right now?”, can be found at the end of this post.)
This week’s question: Prior to “Black Panther,” when was the last time that a major studio movie changed the film industry forever?
Siddhant Adlakha (@SidizenKane), Freelance for Village Voice
What’s equal parts incredible and scary about “Black Panther” being the next big game changer — and it will be — is the last time a studio film changed the American film industry in a major way it was Marvel’s own “The Avengers.” The landscape shift in the post-Avengers world was palpable. Disney had struck gold by acquiring Marvel a few years prior (“The Avengers” was the first superhero film distributed by the Mouse House) and in the wake of its financial,...
This week’s question: Prior to “Black Panther,” when was the last time that a major studio movie changed the film industry forever?
Siddhant Adlakha (@SidizenKane), Freelance for Village Voice
What’s equal parts incredible and scary about “Black Panther” being the next big game changer — and it will be — is the last time a studio film changed the American film industry in a major way it was Marvel’s own “The Avengers.” The landscape shift in the post-Avengers world was palpable. Disney had struck gold by acquiring Marvel a few years prior (“The Avengers” was the first superhero film distributed by the Mouse House) and in the wake of its financial,...
- 2/21/2018
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Welcome, one and all, to the latest installment of The Film Stage Show! Today, Michael Snydel, Bill Graham, and I are joined by Siddhant Adlakha as we talk about one of the most-anticipated films of the year, Ryan Coogler’s record-breaking Black Panther.
Subscribe on iTunes or see below to stream/download. Enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor.
M4A: The Film Stage Show Ep. 284 – Black Panther
00:00 – 04:04 – Introductions
04:05 – 56:28 – Black Panther
56:29 – 01:47:51 – Spoilers
The Film Stage is supported by Mubi, a curated online cinema streaming a selection of exceptional independent, classic, and award-winning films from around the world. Each day, Mubi hand-picks a new gem and you have one month to watch it. Try it for free at mubi.com/filmstage.
Subscribe below:
Support The Film Stage Show on Patreon. E-mail us...
Subscribe on iTunes or see below to stream/download. Enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor.
M4A: The Film Stage Show Ep. 284 – Black Panther
00:00 – 04:04 – Introductions
04:05 – 56:28 – Black Panther
56:29 – 01:47:51 – Spoilers
The Film Stage is supported by Mubi, a curated online cinema streaming a selection of exceptional independent, classic, and award-winning films from around the world. Each day, Mubi hand-picks a new gem and you have one month to watch it. Try it for free at mubi.com/filmstage.
Subscribe below:
Support The Film Stage Show on Patreon. E-mail us...
- 2/21/2018
- by Brian Roan
- The Film Stage
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