The 2024 Cannes Film Festival may be lighter on glitz and glamour than in years past, but that means arthouse and international fare from emerging and established filmmakers will get a chance to shine. Still, at least two American auteurs, Francis Ford Coppola (“Megalopolis”) and Paul Schrader, have films in the main competition for the first time in decades. David Cronenberg (“The Shrouds”) and Yorgos Lanthimos (“Kinds of Kindness”) are also back at the festival, with both making personal stories in their own way: Cronenberg, here, reckons with grief over the death of his wife seven years ago, while Lanthimos appears to retreat back into “Dogtooth” territory in a film that’s almost a rebuke of the global success he’s acquired with “Poor Things” and “The Favourite.”
Sean Baker, Andrea Arnold, Ali Abbasi, Jia Zhangke, Karim Aïnouz, and Paolo Sorrentino are also back at Cannes this year with new films in the competition.
Sean Baker, Andrea Arnold, Ali Abbasi, Jia Zhangke, Karim Aïnouz, and Paolo Sorrentino are also back at Cannes this year with new films in the competition.
- 5/14/2024
- by Ryan Lattanzio, David Ehrlich and Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
[Editor’s note: this list was originally published in May 2023. It has since been updated with new entries in honor of Mother’s Day 2024.]
Movies offer an excellent excuse to ruminate on your deepest fears, and they’re certainly cheaper than therapy. So if you’re struggling with some deep mommy issues, why not cue up a matriarchal tale of terror and sort through some of that trauma in style?
Auteurs have been hashing out their issues with their mothers on the big screen for decades, to varying degrees of success. Consider mother-centric horror as its own subgenre, and you’ll notice there’s a tendency among filmmakers to take more than one stab at the thorny subject matter. Alfred Hitchcock used the real crimes of serial killer Ed Gein and added a profoundly morbid murder of a mother at a motel to brilliantly realize Norma and Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) for his exquisite “Psycho” in 1960, of course. But he’d whipped up something just as insidiously spectacular with Leopoldine Konstantin for his earlier...
Movies offer an excellent excuse to ruminate on your deepest fears, and they’re certainly cheaper than therapy. So if you’re struggling with some deep mommy issues, why not cue up a matriarchal tale of terror and sort through some of that trauma in style?
Auteurs have been hashing out their issues with their mothers on the big screen for decades, to varying degrees of success. Consider mother-centric horror as its own subgenre, and you’ll notice there’s a tendency among filmmakers to take more than one stab at the thorny subject matter. Alfred Hitchcock used the real crimes of serial killer Ed Gein and added a profoundly morbid murder of a mother at a motel to brilliantly realize Norma and Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) for his exquisite “Psycho” in 1960, of course. But he’d whipped up something just as insidiously spectacular with Leopoldine Konstantin for his earlier...
- 5/11/2024
- by Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
As Netflix’s library of films ebbs and flows, finding the right movie to watch can feel like bailing out an ocean with a spoon. And if you’re looking for a quality horror movie in particular, the search only gets harder. With the reality that Horror is one of the cheapest genres to produce, streamers like Netflix are cluttered with a veritable tsunami of bloody titles that sometimes seem indistinguishable from one another.
If you’re looking for a good horror movie to watch on Netflix that will truly scare you, picking a final selection can prove a more daunting task than sitting through yet another “Haunting of Hill House” rewatch; with or without its beloved “Bly Manor” chaser. But while the streamer’s priorities seem to shift as quickly as its content selection grows, Netflix’s horror library remains a high point — with original triumphs, including Guillermo del Toro...
If you’re looking for a good horror movie to watch on Netflix that will truly scare you, picking a final selection can prove a more daunting task than sitting through yet another “Haunting of Hill House” rewatch; with or without its beloved “Bly Manor” chaser. But while the streamer’s priorities seem to shift as quickly as its content selection grows, Netflix’s horror library remains a high point — with original triumphs, including Guillermo del Toro...
- 5/7/2024
- by Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
Who says this summer is light on blockbuster fare, despite the strikes holding productions and release dates up?
Big movies coming to theaters in the next hot few months include favorite IP getting a 2024 burnish, from “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” to “Alien: Romulus” and “Twisters”. Oh, and a little movie called “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” (May 24), which George Miller will first bring to the Cannes Film Festival before opening it in theaters later that month. Plus, poised to be a Netflix hit this summer is Richard Linklater’s “Hit Man” (May 24 in theaters), playing for a couple of weeks in select cities before the crime comedy starring Glen Powell hits the streaming platform.
But those bigger-ticket titles aside, summer 2024 is a time for indies to shine, from Annie Baker’s long-awaited festival hit “Janet Planet” (June 14) to India Donaldson’s wonderful Sundance premiere “Good One” (August...
Big movies coming to theaters in the next hot few months include favorite IP getting a 2024 burnish, from “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” to “Alien: Romulus” and “Twisters”. Oh, and a little movie called “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” (May 24), which George Miller will first bring to the Cannes Film Festival before opening it in theaters later that month. Plus, poised to be a Netflix hit this summer is Richard Linklater’s “Hit Man” (May 24 in theaters), playing for a couple of weeks in select cities before the crime comedy starring Glen Powell hits the streaming platform.
But those bigger-ticket titles aside, summer 2024 is a time for indies to shine, from Annie Baker’s long-awaited festival hit “Janet Planet” (June 14) to India Donaldson’s wonderful Sundance premiere “Good One” (August...
- 4/23/2024
- by Ryan Lattanzio, David Ehrlich and Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
[Editor’s note: This list was first published in May 2021 and has been updated multiple times since.]
Is there any entertainment force more seemingly unstoppable than true crime? Humanity’s most dastardly deeds have fascinated audiences for centuries. And in the modern age, the streaming wars and social media are feeding, accelerating, and encouraging that fixation at an unprecedented scale and rate. The result is an unending cycle of notorious crimes revisited via documentary that’s punctuated by real-time internet clips showing everything from minor fights in grocery stores to homicides carried out by police.
As the world gets darker, many TV and movie lovers have turned their attention to this increasingly macabre subject matter to simultaneously distract themselves from the news and lean into the fraught reality of narratives considering real crimes. From podcasts and documentaries to prestige dramas and sitcoms lampooning the genre, true crime is everywhere. Learning about its most frequented subject areas — corrupt police, biased justice systems, unreliable evidence, and the like — is...
Is there any entertainment force more seemingly unstoppable than true crime? Humanity’s most dastardly deeds have fascinated audiences for centuries. And in the modern age, the streaming wars and social media are feeding, accelerating, and encouraging that fixation at an unprecedented scale and rate. The result is an unending cycle of notorious crimes revisited via documentary that’s punctuated by real-time internet clips showing everything from minor fights in grocery stores to homicides carried out by police.
As the world gets darker, many TV and movie lovers have turned their attention to this increasingly macabre subject matter to simultaneously distract themselves from the news and lean into the fraught reality of narratives considering real crimes. From podcasts and documentaries to prestige dramas and sitcoms lampooning the genre, true crime is everywhere. Learning about its most frequented subject areas — corrupt police, biased justice systems, unreliable evidence, and the like — is...
- 4/20/2024
- by Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
To say that few filmmakers love movies as much as Quentin Tarantino is a staggering understatement. Few people love movies as much as Quentin Tarantino, and the cinephile’s tastes continue to shape Hollywood. Today he turns 61, and so of course we had to share an updated list of Tarantino’s favorite movies that brings the total to 61.
The video store clerk-turned-director has spent decades dazzling interviewers and fans with his unparalleled knowledge of cinema history, with tastes that range from universally acclaimed classics to more obscure and even lowbrow fare. While his love of spaghetti Westerns and exploitation flicks has always been well-documented, Tarantino isn’t afraid to publicly embrace the modern or mainstream. He proudly championed “Top Gun: Maverick” in the summer of 2022, as did so many others. Not to mention, he’s a fan of rom-coms, particularly on long flights. (He once dubbed Kate Hudson “the queen...
The video store clerk-turned-director has spent decades dazzling interviewers and fans with his unparalleled knowledge of cinema history, with tastes that range from universally acclaimed classics to more obscure and even lowbrow fare. While his love of spaghetti Westerns and exploitation flicks has always been well-documented, Tarantino isn’t afraid to publicly embrace the modern or mainstream. He proudly championed “Top Gun: Maverick” in the summer of 2022, as did so many others. Not to mention, he’s a fan of rom-coms, particularly on long flights. (He once dubbed Kate Hudson “the queen...
- 3/27/2024
- by Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
The entire film industry is soon to descend upon the Côte d’Azur this May as the Cannes Film Festival readies for its 77th edition. From May 14 through May 25, the iconic festival event of the year will host much-awaited new works for auteurs and rising directors alike, across sections like the Competition, Directors’ Fortnight, Un Certain Regard (with jury president Xavier Dolan), and Critics’ Week. Major prizes will come at the end of the festival, and will no doubt set the tone for the movie year ahead.
Such was the case last year when Justine Triet’s eventual Oscar winner “Anatomy of a Fall” took home the top award, the Palme d’Or, the fourth consecutive film distributed by Neon to do so. Jonathan Glazer’s 2023 Grand Prize winner “The Zone of Interest” also won two Academy Awards, while Competition entries “Perfect Days” and “May December” earned Oscar nominations, too.
Such was the case last year when Justine Triet’s eventual Oscar winner “Anatomy of a Fall” took home the top award, the Palme d’Or, the fourth consecutive film distributed by Neon to do so. Jonathan Glazer’s 2023 Grand Prize winner “The Zone of Interest” also won two Academy Awards, while Competition entries “Perfect Days” and “May December” earned Oscar nominations, too.
- 3/27/2024
- by Ryan Lattanzio, Kate Erbland and David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
[Editor’s note: This list was originally published in 2017. It has since been updated many times.]
With everything going the way it is in the world right now, we’re laughing to keep less cheery emotions at bay. At least this bizarre, still-very-much-in-progress century has already produced a slew of spectacular, silly, snarky, and cynical comedies: ready to fire up whenever you need a serotonin burst or distraction thanks to the ever-growing cadre of streaming services.
The pandemic may be in the rearview for the U.S. federal government, but the specter of war, a tortured economy, and human rights issues across the globe have occupied the minds of many instead. So, in desperate need of some humor, we thought it was more important than ever to give our Greatest Comedies of the 21st Century list, originally published in 2017, yet another rethink. Since the list was originally published, we’ve expanded it to 90 entries, including titles released since then that deserved including and other titles we somehow overlooked the first time.
With everything going the way it is in the world right now, we’re laughing to keep less cheery emotions at bay. At least this bizarre, still-very-much-in-progress century has already produced a slew of spectacular, silly, snarky, and cynical comedies: ready to fire up whenever you need a serotonin burst or distraction thanks to the ever-growing cadre of streaming services.
The pandemic may be in the rearview for the U.S. federal government, but the specter of war, a tortured economy, and human rights issues across the globe have occupied the minds of many instead. So, in desperate need of some humor, we thought it was more important than ever to give our Greatest Comedies of the 21st Century list, originally published in 2017, yet another rethink. Since the list was originally published, we’ve expanded it to 90 entries, including titles released since then that deserved including and other titles we somehow overlooked the first time.
- 3/26/2024
- by Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
Conor McGregor has made his acting debut alongside Jake Gyllenhaal in the action film Road House. With the Mma star venturing into the world of Hollywood, comparisons naturally arise with another icon who traveled a similar path, Dwayne Johnson. The former wrestling champion made his feature film debut in the early 2000s and has since become one of the most prominent names in the film industry.
Conor McGregor in a still from Road House
However, McGregor is already setting himself apart by defying a notable rule reportedly upheld by Johnson by embracing the antagonistic role of Knox in his debut film.
Conor McGregor Signals Bold Departure from Hollywood Norms
Conor McGregor’s debut in Doug Liman’s adaptation of the 1989 film Road House has generated significant buzz, even drawing comparisons to Dwayne Johnson’s transition from wrestling to acting. And after claiming to surpass him as the highest-paid acting debut,...
Conor McGregor in a still from Road House
However, McGregor is already setting himself apart by defying a notable rule reportedly upheld by Johnson by embracing the antagonistic role of Knox in his debut film.
Conor McGregor Signals Bold Departure from Hollywood Norms
Conor McGregor’s debut in Doug Liman’s adaptation of the 1989 film Road House has generated significant buzz, even drawing comparisons to Dwayne Johnson’s transition from wrestling to acting. And after claiming to surpass him as the highest-paid acting debut,...
- 3/22/2024
- by Laxmi Rajput
- FandomWire
It is fair to say that the line between sports and films is often blurred in Tinseltown. While athletes dabble in acting, actors often try their hand at sports. As an illustration, consider Conor McGregor, the Irish mixed martial arts fighter who just made his acting debut in the latest flick, Road House, helmed by Doug Liman.
His performance received high praise from moviegoers and critics alike, with some even suggesting he could be the next “Arnold Schwarzenegger”. Regardless, he may have stolen the show in the Jake Gyllenhaal starrer film, but he is far from ready to dethrone Dave Bautista. Not to be overlooked is the fact that the latter has an equally impressive acting resumé.
Conor McGregor | Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Bautista has proven to be a versatile and talented actor, appearing in films such as Blade Runner 2049 and Spectre.
Critics Rave About Conor McGregor’s Stellar Role...
His performance received high praise from moviegoers and critics alike, with some even suggesting he could be the next “Arnold Schwarzenegger”. Regardless, he may have stolen the show in the Jake Gyllenhaal starrer film, but he is far from ready to dethrone Dave Bautista. Not to be overlooked is the fact that the latter has an equally impressive acting resumé.
Conor McGregor | Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Bautista has proven to be a versatile and talented actor, appearing in films such as Blade Runner 2049 and Spectre.
Critics Rave About Conor McGregor’s Stellar Role...
- 3/22/2024
- by Siddhika Prajapati
- FandomWire
If curating the Best Action Movies of All Time felt borderline impossible, then ranking just the top entries from this century is Mission Barely Manageable.
Most franchise IP blockbusters released to big box office hauls in recent years could qualify as “action movies” in one way or another. That’s particularly true when it comes to the omnipresent cultural phenomenon we call superhero films. It can be tempting to write off the entire action genre when all you see is the over-pixelated epics about super-somethings stopping intergalactic injustice that make up an increasingly large chunk of modern Hollywood. However, the action movies that depend less on fetishized source material have yielded some of the most personal higher-budget workaround. When done well, action movies can tell great character-driven stories through movement. Action — acted or animated — is simply drama made dynamic.
That principle is what separates so many of the movies on...
Most franchise IP blockbusters released to big box office hauls in recent years could qualify as “action movies” in one way or another. That’s particularly true when it comes to the omnipresent cultural phenomenon we call superhero films. It can be tempting to write off the entire action genre when all you see is the over-pixelated epics about super-somethings stopping intergalactic injustice that make up an increasingly large chunk of modern Hollywood. However, the action movies that depend less on fetishized source material have yielded some of the most personal higher-budget workaround. When done well, action movies can tell great character-driven stories through movement. Action — acted or animated — is simply drama made dynamic.
That principle is what separates so many of the movies on...
- 3/22/2024
- by Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
[Editor’s Note: The below piece was originally published on November 20, 2018. It has since been updated.]
Evaluating animated TV can be tricky. Not only is animation a medium that crosses a wide range of genres, but so many of our earliest memories in front of a screen are tied to an animated series, short, or special, and that impermeable nostalgia can be difficult to penetrate with typical critical tools like reason, logic, and other objective criteria. Some shows just click. They hit at the right time and capture a blossoming imagination. When it comes to ranking animated series, you’re not just analyzing TV shows. You’re critiquing childhoods.
Of course, animation is also one of the more expansive TV subsets, with dozens of different tones and styles that make comparisons often feel like apples and oranges. There are cartoons, anime, short films, short series, short films turned into short series, web series, adult-oriented animation, and that’s before digging into all the individual genres, like...
Evaluating animated TV can be tricky. Not only is animation a medium that crosses a wide range of genres, but so many of our earliest memories in front of a screen are tied to an animated series, short, or special, and that impermeable nostalgia can be difficult to penetrate with typical critical tools like reason, logic, and other objective criteria. Some shows just click. They hit at the right time and capture a blossoming imagination. When it comes to ranking animated series, you’re not just analyzing TV shows. You’re critiquing childhoods.
Of course, animation is also one of the more expansive TV subsets, with dozens of different tones and styles that make comparisons often feel like apples and oranges. There are cartoons, anime, short films, short series, short films turned into short series, web series, adult-oriented animation, and that’s before digging into all the individual genres, like...
- 3/20/2024
- by Ben Travers and Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
What would movies be about if not for love? Since well before the days of Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman in “Casablanca,” romance has driven countless classic stories, setting up some of the highest highs in cinematic history to follow. Be it Cary Grant and Grace Kelly seeing stars in “To Catch a Thief” or Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal disturbing diner patrons in “When Harry Met Sally,” the 20th century was chock full of iconic romances that helped humanity fall in love with the movies. Of course, those titles were dominated by white artists telling largely heteronormative tales — meaning many (but not all) of the best and most inclusive romances have arrived this millennium.
Now, the best romance movies of the 21st century both resonate and surprise, showing audiences characters they might recognize from their own lives in new and surprising ways. Yes, finding “the one” is exceedingly well-frequented thematic territory,...
Now, the best romance movies of the 21st century both resonate and surprise, showing audiences characters they might recognize from their own lives in new and surprising ways. Yes, finding “the one” is exceedingly well-frequented thematic territory,...
- 3/20/2024
- by Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
Last month, it was reported that the 2024 “Road House” remake could have avoided a streaming debut, but Amazon gave “the filmmakers and (star Jake) Gyllenhaal” a choice: $60 million budget and theatrical; $85 million and streaming. Ultimately, the team chose the latter. At the film’s premiere in New York City on March 19, we asked star Lukas Gage his thoughts about the film going straight to Amazon Prime.
“I obviously love watching in a movie theater. Of course, it’s a little bit of a bummer,” Gage told IndieWire. “But look, if it’s going to be anywhere, if it’s going to go to any streaming, I would love to go to Amazon. I love what they do. I love Amazon Prime. Everything is changing, the industry is changing, and we kind of have to adapt to it.”
We went on to talk about filming alongside lead Jake Gyllenhaal. “[Gyllenhaal] gave me...
“I obviously love watching in a movie theater. Of course, it’s a little bit of a bummer,” Gage told IndieWire. “But look, if it’s going to be anywhere, if it’s going to go to any streaming, I would love to go to Amazon. I love what they do. I love Amazon Prime. Everything is changing, the industry is changing, and we kind of have to adapt to it.”
We went on to talk about filming alongside lead Jake Gyllenhaal. “[Gyllenhaal] gave me...
- 3/20/2024
- by Vincent Perella
- Indiewire
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
While studio-backed crowdpleasers tend to dominate the headlines generated by the SXSW Film & TV Festival (like rowdy opener “Road House” and steamy closer “The Idea of You”), this year’s festival was chock-a-block with smaller offerings that a) delighted audiences and b) are still looking for distributions deals so that the may delight still more audiences. These titles run the gamut: debuts and follow-up features, narrative films and documentaries, comedies and horror joints, bonafide award winners and seemingly instant cult classics, and at least one film that hinges on the possibilities of “Grand Theft Auto.”
And while it’s still early days, given the incredible assortment of films still looking for homes, we can’t help but tout their allure to all interested buyers. These aren’t just the best available films from SXSW, they’re some of the very best of the fest, full stop, and wider audiences deserve to see them,...
And while it’s still early days, given the incredible assortment of films still looking for homes, we can’t help but tout their allure to all interested buyers. These aren’t just the best available films from SXSW, they’re some of the very best of the fest, full stop, and wider audiences deserve to see them,...
- 3/18/2024
- by Kate Erbland and David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
At the world premiere of Frida during the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, audiences couldn’t stop talking about director Carla Gutierrez’s choice to animate Frida Kahlo’s paintings throughout the documentary about the artist — and not always in a good way.
“We knew that it was a bold decision,” Gutierrez told IndieWire of the conversation that sprang up around the film. “Obviously, when you’re putting out a film and you’re getting the first reactions, you take them really intensely, and it’s just like, ‘Oh, Ok.’ But we had so many conversations about what we meant and what we wanted to do with animation, that a lot of the things that people brought up or questioned were actually questions that we posed ourselves through the process.”
Though controversial — IndieWire’s Christian Zilko wrote, “Rather than show [Kahlo’s] actual paintings, the film relies on animated versions of them...
“We knew that it was a bold decision,” Gutierrez told IndieWire of the conversation that sprang up around the film. “Obviously, when you’re putting out a film and you’re getting the first reactions, you take them really intensely, and it’s just like, ‘Oh, Ok.’ But we had so many conversations about what we meant and what we wanted to do with animation, that a lot of the things that people brought up or questioned were actually questions that we posed ourselves through the process.”
Though controversial — IndieWire’s Christian Zilko wrote, “Rather than show [Kahlo’s] actual paintings, the film relies on animated versions of them...
- 3/14/2024
- by Mark Peikert
- Indiewire
You always hope your indie movie might get some extra attention.
That specific wish became a reality for the team behind “My Dead Friend Zoe,” which premiered at SXSW this past weekend. From army veteran Kyle Hausmann-Stokes, the personal film tells the story of a shattered veteran (Sonequa Martin-Green) haunted by the ongoing presence of her deceased platoon mate (Natalie Morales). It was recently announced that three-time Super Bowl champion Travis Kelce is an executive producer on the project.
When chatting with Martin-Green about her starring role on “Star Trek: Discovery,” we also asked the actress about what happens when a little indie movie that is currently seeking distribution combines with the kind of tabloid superpower that makes Fox News shake in its boots. Namely: What did you think when you found out Travis Kelce would be one of the producers on this project, in terms of eyeballs on your work?...
That specific wish became a reality for the team behind “My Dead Friend Zoe,” which premiered at SXSW this past weekend. From army veteran Kyle Hausmann-Stokes, the personal film tells the story of a shattered veteran (Sonequa Martin-Green) haunted by the ongoing presence of her deceased platoon mate (Natalie Morales). It was recently announced that three-time Super Bowl champion Travis Kelce is an executive producer on the project.
When chatting with Martin-Green about her starring role on “Star Trek: Discovery,” we also asked the actress about what happens when a little indie movie that is currently seeking distribution combines with the kind of tabloid superpower that makes Fox News shake in its boots. Namely: What did you think when you found out Travis Kelce would be one of the producers on this project, in terms of eyeballs on your work?...
- 3/12/2024
- by Erin Strecker
- Indiewire
[Editor’s Note: This list was originally published in May 2016 and has since been updated.]
So…what is sci-fi? It’s not the easiest question to answer when “sci-fi elements” permeate so many of the biggest blockbusters: thought-provoking genre concepts flattened into one-size-fits-all franchise fodder that make countless titles “feel” and, on occasion, even look the same.
Yes, science fiction is rooted in profound origins, examining humanity’s deep-seated fear of itself and the intimidating possibility of worlds unknown. But the last two decades have seen a metaphoric rush on sci-fi storytelling that’s left the once niche subgenre a supersaturated movie market. On the one hand, that’s produced an onslaught of sci-fi(ish) titles that aren’t always up to snuff. But on the other, it’s prompted some of the best sci-fi films ever made. Masterworks like “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and “Nope” both arrived in the past two years, and top our list at number five and number eight respectively.
So…what is sci-fi? It’s not the easiest question to answer when “sci-fi elements” permeate so many of the biggest blockbusters: thought-provoking genre concepts flattened into one-size-fits-all franchise fodder that make countless titles “feel” and, on occasion, even look the same.
Yes, science fiction is rooted in profound origins, examining humanity’s deep-seated fear of itself and the intimidating possibility of worlds unknown. But the last two decades have seen a metaphoric rush on sci-fi storytelling that’s left the once niche subgenre a supersaturated movie market. On the one hand, that’s produced an onslaught of sci-fi(ish) titles that aren’t always up to snuff. But on the other, it’s prompted some of the best sci-fi films ever made. Masterworks like “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and “Nope” both arrived in the past two years, and top our list at number five and number eight respectively.
- 3/5/2024
- by Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
This year’s SXSW Film and TV Festival (running March 8 through March 16) continues the Austin-based multimedia showcases expansion beyond typical-screen movies and into the realms of TV and Xr experiences.
The festival’s opening night premiere, Doug Liman’s “Road House,” falls somewhere in the cracks between film and TV, as controversially the Jake Gyllenhaal-led ’80s throwback reimagining will not play theaters from Amazon MGM Studios and will instead plop on Amazon Prime Video on March 21. (“Road House” and Amazon MGM are meanwhile in the thick of a copyright lawsuit filed by the 1989 original’s screenwriter R. Lance Hill that also messily involves the studio’s alleged AI usage to rush completion on the movie.)
Similarly, the deep-pocketed but theatrically stingy streamer’s “The Idea of You,” a Coachella-set romantic dramedy from director Michael Showalter and starring Anne Hathaway, will also be a Prime Video exclusive this May after playing SXSW.
The festival’s opening night premiere, Doug Liman’s “Road House,” falls somewhere in the cracks between film and TV, as controversially the Jake Gyllenhaal-led ’80s throwback reimagining will not play theaters from Amazon MGM Studios and will instead plop on Amazon Prime Video on March 21. (“Road House” and Amazon MGM are meanwhile in the thick of a copyright lawsuit filed by the 1989 original’s screenwriter R. Lance Hill that also messily involves the studio’s alleged AI usage to rush completion on the movie.)
Similarly, the deep-pocketed but theatrically stingy streamer’s “The Idea of You,” a Coachella-set romantic dramedy from director Michael Showalter and starring Anne Hathaway, will also be a Prime Video exclusive this May after playing SXSW.
- 3/4/2024
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Every cinephile knows that “What was the best movie of the year?” and “What movie will win Best Picture at the Oscars?” are two entirely different questions. In 2023, the answer for both was arguably the same.
The Daniels’ “Everything Everywhere All at Once” — A24’s mind-bending mother-daughter story about life’s unexplainable questions and the lengths we will go for love — won over audiences and critics before taking home Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress (for Michelle Yeoh), Best Supporting Actor (for Ke Huy Quan), Best Supporting Actress (for Jamie Lee Curtis), and Best Original Screenplay at the 95th Academy Awards. Still, despite the film’s accolades, it has its critics — and you’re likely to find many a pundit who feels that the top prize ultimately should have gone to Todd Field’s chillier, less crowd-pleasing “Tár” instead.
As long as there have been award shows, movie fans have...
The Daniels’ “Everything Everywhere All at Once” — A24’s mind-bending mother-daughter story about life’s unexplainable questions and the lengths we will go for love — won over audiences and critics before taking home Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress (for Michelle Yeoh), Best Supporting Actor (for Ke Huy Quan), Best Supporting Actress (for Jamie Lee Curtis), and Best Original Screenplay at the 95th Academy Awards. Still, despite the film’s accolades, it has its critics — and you’re likely to find many a pundit who feels that the top prize ultimately should have gone to Todd Field’s chillier, less crowd-pleasing “Tár” instead.
As long as there have been award shows, movie fans have...
- 3/2/2024
- by Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
In 2018, the film world unknowingly received a major swan song: the last Coen Brothers movie. That November, Joel and Ethan Coen’s Western anthology film “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” released on Netflix, marking the 18th feature from the Minnesota-born filmmakers.
In the years that followed, the two did something they never did across the first three decades of their career: go solo. Elder brother Joel was the first to branch out with 2021’s “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” an expressionist, gorgeous staging of William Shakespeare’s iconic play with Denzel Washington and Coen’s own wife Frances McDormand in the lead roles. Ethan followed shortly with the “Drive-Away Dolls,” a raucous comedy co-written with his wife Tricia Cooke (an underrated constant in the duo’s career is their wife-guy natures) and styled as a lesbian-slanted version of classic Coen Brothers comedies like “The Big Lebowski” and “Raising Arizona,” with Margaret Qualley...
In the years that followed, the two did something they never did across the first three decades of their career: go solo. Elder brother Joel was the first to branch out with 2021’s “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” an expressionist, gorgeous staging of William Shakespeare’s iconic play with Denzel Washington and Coen’s own wife Frances McDormand in the lead roles. Ethan followed shortly with the “Drive-Away Dolls,” a raucous comedy co-written with his wife Tricia Cooke (an underrated constant in the duo’s career is their wife-guy natures) and styled as a lesbian-slanted version of classic Coen Brothers comedies like “The Big Lebowski” and “Raising Arizona,” with Margaret Qualley...
- 2/23/2024
- by Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
On February 2nd, 1993 — and on the infinite number of days that followed it — Bill Murray’s curmudgeonly weatherman Phil Connors woke up to the sounds of “I Got You Babe” and reported on the Groundhog Day festivities in Punxutawney, Pennsylvania. And while his displeasure about having to cover such a nonsensically rodent-centric holiday eventually faded, the enduring charm of “Groundhog Day” has not.
In the three decades since Harold Ramis’ classic comedy hit theaters, the time loop formula of characters being stuck repeating a single day has been imitated by everyone from Tom Cruise to Natasha Lyonne. While the heights of “Groundhog Day” are hard to top, time loop films have become a charming addition to nearly ever genre under the sun. Ramis’ idea ended up providing a shot of adrenaline that allowed time travel cinema to flourish for another quarter century.
Time travel has its roots in ancient myths and folk tales,...
In the three decades since Harold Ramis’ classic comedy hit theaters, the time loop formula of characters being stuck repeating a single day has been imitated by everyone from Tom Cruise to Natasha Lyonne. While the heights of “Groundhog Day” are hard to top, time loop films have become a charming addition to nearly ever genre under the sun. Ramis’ idea ended up providing a shot of adrenaline that allowed time travel cinema to flourish for another quarter century.
Time travel has its roots in ancient myths and folk tales,...
- 2/2/2024
- by Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
Remembering Philip Seymour Hoffman 10 Years Later: The Actor’s Best Roles, from ‘Twister’ to ‘Doubt’
The worst thing that could have happened to the film community did on February 2, 2014: Philip Seymour Hoffman, the great actor who transcended every project he graced, died alone of a drug overdose in his Manhattan apartment. Everyone remembers where they were when the news broke. His death was a shock to the system of all his collaborators and everyone in the creative community, but he left behind an Oscar-winning, untouchable body of work that, whenever revisited, gives the consistent feeling that he’s still among us.
Though Hoffman won his Academy Award for his etched-in-stone portrayal of a great American writer in “Capote,” Bennett Miller’s film is hardly the best work he ever did. The mid-’90s saw Hoffman begin a too-short of a lifelong collaboration with Paul Thomas Anderson, working together on films like “Hard Eight,” “Boogie Nights,” and “Magnolia” before playing a charismatic cult leader who...
Though Hoffman won his Academy Award for his etched-in-stone portrayal of a great American writer in “Capote,” Bennett Miller’s film is hardly the best work he ever did. The mid-’90s saw Hoffman begin a too-short of a lifelong collaboration with Paul Thomas Anderson, working together on films like “Hard Eight,” “Boogie Nights,” and “Magnolia” before playing a charismatic cult leader who...
- 2/2/2024
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Is there a single director working today with a better track record than Martin Scorsese? Ever since breaking through with his gritty, scrappy crime drama “Mean Streets,” the Italian-American’s name has been synonymous with quality, and he’s kept that train going for several years. Some films were more acclaimed than others, but from the ’70s all the way to the 2020s, Scorsese has remained a consistent top-tier filmmaker, pumping out at least one or two stone-cold classics per decade.
What’s even more impressive is how adaptable and varied the man has proven himself to be. A refrain popular among internet contrarians is that Scorsese is just a dude who makes gangster movies, but one look at the films he’s made over the years shows that only scratches the surface of his capabilities and tastes. While his mafia films like “Goodfellas” and “The Irishman” are obvious greats,...
What’s even more impressive is how adaptable and varied the man has proven himself to be. A refrain popular among internet contrarians is that Scorsese is just a dude who makes gangster movies, but one look at the films he’s made over the years shows that only scratches the surface of his capabilities and tastes. While his mafia films like “Goodfellas” and “The Irishman” are obvious greats,...
- 1/26/2024
- by Wilson Chapman and Alison Foreman
- Indiewire
Cillian Murphy first cut his teeth at the Corcadorca Theatre Company in his hometown of Cork, Ireland at the age of 20, where he nailed the audition for his first acting role in Enda Walsh’s “Disco Pigs” play. Murphy made enough of an impression to not only land the role for the theater part, but he also starred in the film adaptation years later. Although the movie wasn’t necessarily a renowned success, his performance caught the eye of Danny Boyle: the legendary filmmaker, then searching for a lead in his post-apocalyptic thriller, “28 Days Later.” That movie would significantly boost Murphy’s profile, earning him nominations for Best Newcomer at the Empire Awards and Breakthrough Male Performance at the MTV Movie Awards.
With 40 movies and 27 years to his career, Murphy seems to be progressing with each appearance, and his latest role was his biggest yet. As the titular...
With 40 movies and 27 years to his career, Murphy seems to be progressing with each appearance, and his latest role was his biggest yet. As the titular...
- 1/25/2024
- by Marcos Franco and Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Films are stunning artifacts of humanity’s singular ability to dream and wonder in unison. But if the moviemaking miracles produced by Hollywood’s studio system are predestined — recycled IP inevitabilities that cost as much money as there are stars in the sky — indies are something greater.
Indie filmmaking is notoriously hard to define; combine the constantly shifting number known as “low budget” and another shifty goalpost, “independent,” and we’re partly there. Here’s another definition: It feels as if it’s willed into existence, both in the final story on screen and in the behind-the-scenes journey that explains how an auteur’s story got there. It was created because it had to be, rendered by talented and undaunted auteurs, through powerful visions and innovative commitment to craft. And finally, it’s introduced to equally ambitious audiences.
It’s in our name: IndieWire was founded in 1996 as an outlet...
Indie filmmaking is notoriously hard to define; combine the constantly shifting number known as “low budget” and another shifty goalpost, “independent,” and we’re partly there. Here’s another definition: It feels as if it’s willed into existence, both in the final story on screen and in the behind-the-scenes journey that explains how an auteur’s story got there. It was created because it had to be, rendered by talented and undaunted auteurs, through powerful visions and innovative commitment to craft. And finally, it’s introduced to equally ambitious audiences.
It’s in our name: IndieWire was founded in 1996 as an outlet...
- 1/3/2024
- by Alison Foreman and Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
2023 may not have been an excellent year for movies, but in spite of everything stacked against it (read: greedy conglomerates run amok), it turned out to be an excellent year of movies. While the fallout of the recent work stoppages will be felt for time to come, some of 2023’s losses will prove to be 2024’s gains, as much-anticipated but strike-delayed films like “Dune: Part Two,” “Drive-Away Dolls,” and Luca Guadagnino’s horny tennis drama “Challengers” have all secured fresh release dates in the first half of the new year.
Those titles will be joined by some of the most promising Hollywood blockbusters in recent memory, must-see work from some of the world’s greatest auteurs, and huge swings from essential artists ranging from new voices like Jane Schoenbrun (“I Saw the TV Glow”) and Duke Johnson (“The Actor”) to venerated masters like Francis Ford Coppola (“Megalopolis”) and Mike Leigh...
Those titles will be joined by some of the most promising Hollywood blockbusters in recent memory, must-see work from some of the world’s greatest auteurs, and huge swings from essential artists ranging from new voices like Jane Schoenbrun (“I Saw the TV Glow”) and Duke Johnson (“The Actor”) to venerated masters like Francis Ford Coppola (“Megalopolis”) and Mike Leigh...
- 12/29/2023
- by IndieWire Staff
- Indiewire
As someone old enough to remember when the prospect of seeing people hump each other on screen was generally considered to be more of a feature of the film-going experience than a bug, I grew bored of social media’s never-ending sex scene discourse long before 2023 began. We all know the reasons why movies aren’t as carnal as they used to be, just as we’re all familiar with the theories about why younger audiences who came of age on the internet might see that as a good thing (e.g. the widespread belief that social isolation and the emergent focus on sexual abuse have made desire seem tantamount to violence). These self-evident truths have been the subject of a million quote-RTs over the last several years, and they will continue to haunt our cursed “For You” tabs until the hellscape formally known as Twitter finally implodes from the...
- 12/14/2023
- by David Ehrlich, Christian Zilko, Alison Foreman and Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
The great Joni Mitchell once wrote, “You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone,” which certainly applied to acting in 2023. Of course, actors didn’t disappear this year. They were just far less visible for a while. The SAG strike — lasting from mid-July to early November — was an eye-opening necessity, protecting the guild from the studios’ ghastly attempts to implement artificial intelligence and correcting issues like lost wages and residuals that stemmed from the “great” streaming disruption.
But if you would’ve told me a year ago I’d be lamenting the loss of all those red carpets, publicity junkets, and various press appearances actors bravely embark upon for their art, I would’ve laughed in your face — and then I would have apologized for laughing in your face, and explained, slowly and assuredly, that “No, I would never miss the scourge of half-formed quotes and...
But if you would’ve told me a year ago I’d be lamenting the loss of all those red carpets, publicity junkets, and various press appearances actors bravely embark upon for their art, I would’ve laughed in your face — and then I would have apologized for laughing in your face, and explained, slowly and assuredly, that “No, I would never miss the scourge of half-formed quotes and...
- 12/5/2023
- by Ben Travers and David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
The Los Angeles Press Club held the 16th annual National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards on Sunday night, honoring the best reporting, criticism, and analysis from across the digital, print, and broadcast media industries. IndieWire received nine nominations and ultimately won seven awards.
Executive Managing Editor Christian Blauvelt won first place in the Soft News, Arts category, for his analysis piece “Will Disney Win Against DeSantis? The Florida Lawsuit Explained.”
IndieWire’s entire staff was honored with third place in the Entertainment Website category. TV Critic and Deputy Editor Ben Travers was also awarded third place in the TV Critic category for his overarching body of work at the site. Additionally, four other individual stories were honored with second or third place finishes.
“I’m really proud of the IndieWire team,” said Dana Harris-Bridson, senior VP and Editor-In-Chief at IndieWire. “We’re a small but mighty crew and I’m...
Executive Managing Editor Christian Blauvelt won first place in the Soft News, Arts category, for his analysis piece “Will Disney Win Against DeSantis? The Florida Lawsuit Explained.”
IndieWire’s entire staff was honored with third place in the Entertainment Website category. TV Critic and Deputy Editor Ben Travers was also awarded third place in the TV Critic category for his overarching body of work at the site. Additionally, four other individual stories were honored with second or third place finishes.
“I’m really proud of the IndieWire team,” said Dana Harris-Bridson, senior VP and Editor-In-Chief at IndieWire. “We’re a small but mighty crew and I’m...
- 12/4/2023
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
When LGBTQ community-gathering spaces were largely put on pause by the pandemic, those once-in-person safe havens became our streaming platforms and technical devices at home. Hyper-specific pop subcultures emerged — here’s looking at you, queer readers of the generally awful “Friends” — and reputations for streamers’ philosophies toward and commitment to LGBTQ content were widely discussed online. (Shout out to Showtime: the premium cable network still servicing lesbians everywhere.)
Even as the world has opened back up, in Hollywood, it feels like queer storytelling and community are more galvanized than ever. Nowhere is that more tidily displayed than on the carousels of “LGBTQ” offerings found across entertainment platforms. Netflix, a heavyweight in any streaming conversation (regardless of its rocky 2022), has played a significant role in green-lighting major queer-inclusive projects across television and film. Not only has the platform championed many shows that were queer in premise — see “Grace and Frankie” or...
Even as the world has opened back up, in Hollywood, it feels like queer storytelling and community are more galvanized than ever. Nowhere is that more tidily displayed than on the carousels of “LGBTQ” offerings found across entertainment platforms. Netflix, a heavyweight in any streaming conversation (regardless of its rocky 2022), has played a significant role in green-lighting major queer-inclusive projects across television and film. Not only has the platform championed many shows that were queer in premise — see “Grace and Frankie” or...
- 12/2/2023
- by Wilson Chapman, Alison Foreman and Jude Dry
- Indiewire
“One more time: animation is a medium, not a genre. Animation is film,” Guillermo del Toro said last year. IndieWire couldn’t agree more, and yet animation — an art form that requires the most precise control of the cinematic medium — is continually disrespected.
Infamously, 2022’s Best Animated Oscars presentation featured several jokes about the nominees that, in the words of Phil Lord and Chris Miller, framed “the five Academy Award nominees for Best Animated Feature as a corporate product for kids that parents must begrudgingly endure.” The directing duo called upon the Academy to do better by animation. And this year’s ceremony largely delivered, with less jokes that belittled animation as kiddy stuff and a sterling speech from del Toro himself for his acclaimed stop-motion feature adaptation of “Pinocchio.”
Pixar and Studio Ghibli tend to spring to mind first when discussing great animation, but there’s a world beyond those two giants.
Infamously, 2022’s Best Animated Oscars presentation featured several jokes about the nominees that, in the words of Phil Lord and Chris Miller, framed “the five Academy Award nominees for Best Animated Feature as a corporate product for kids that parents must begrudgingly endure.” The directing duo called upon the Academy to do better by animation. And this year’s ceremony largely delivered, with less jokes that belittled animation as kiddy stuff and a sterling speech from del Toro himself for his acclaimed stop-motion feature adaptation of “Pinocchio.”
Pixar and Studio Ghibli tend to spring to mind first when discussing great animation, but there’s a world beyond those two giants.
- 11/23/2023
- by Bill Desowitz and Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
The Los Angeles Press Club unveiled the nominations for the 16th annual National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards, and IndieWire earned nine nominations. After 1,600 entries were evaluated by the committee, IndieWire’s entire staff was honored with a nomination for Best Entertainment Website, and eight staffers received additional nominations for their individual works.
IndieWire’s TV Critic and Deputy Editor Ben Travers was nominated in the TV Critic category for his entire body of work over the past year.
IndieWire’s Executive Managing Editor Christian Blauvelt earned a nomination in the Soft News, Arts category, for his analysis piece “Will Disney Win Against DeSantis? The Florida Lawsuit Explained.”
IndieWire’s Executive Editor, Business Tony Maglio received a nomination for Humor Writing for his essay “I Took My Daughters, 3 and 6, to See ‘The Little Mermaid.’ Here’s Who Slept and Who Danced in the Aisles.”
IndieWire’s Senior Reporter Brian Welk was also nominated in the Business,...
IndieWire’s TV Critic and Deputy Editor Ben Travers was nominated in the TV Critic category for his entire body of work over the past year.
IndieWire’s Executive Managing Editor Christian Blauvelt earned a nomination in the Soft News, Arts category, for his analysis piece “Will Disney Win Against DeSantis? The Florida Lawsuit Explained.”
IndieWire’s Executive Editor, Business Tony Maglio received a nomination for Humor Writing for his essay “I Took My Daughters, 3 and 6, to See ‘The Little Mermaid.’ Here’s Who Slept and Who Danced in the Aisles.”
IndieWire’s Senior Reporter Brian Welk was also nominated in the Business,...
- 11/2/2023
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
Updated: While the fall festival season often plays home to the kind of films we’ve been buzzing about for quite some time (here are 36 of those very titles), the kind of features long set for “awards season potential” before they roll so much as a trailer, the sort of heavy-hitters we’re eager to keep chatting about for months and months (here are 18 in particular that we loved), there are always a wide variety of gems that arrive on the circuit still looking for homes (read: a way to reach the wider movie-going public).
This year’s season is no exception, and while the Hollywood strikes have thrown more than a few wrenches into business-as-usual, the rise of interim agreements and the need for many non-amptp distributors to bulk up their slates mean that sales should still be cooking. While Netflix has already done the bulk of this season’s buying,...
This year’s season is no exception, and while the Hollywood strikes have thrown more than a few wrenches into business-as-usual, the rise of interim agreements and the need for many non-amptp distributors to bulk up their slates mean that sales should still be cooking. While Netflix has already done the bulk of this season’s buying,...
- 10/18/2023
- by Kate Erbland, David Ehrlich, Anne Thompson and Marcus Jones
- Indiewire
Updated: With the fall festivals behind us — we’re talking the triple whammy of Venice, Telluride, and Toronto, plus the just-wrapped New York Film Festival and BFI London — we’re taking stock of the best films of the circuit. While it’s always easy to use the fall festivals as a window into this year’s awards contenders, of which many debuted over the past few weeks, the festivals have also provided us with some of the best films of 2023, full stop.
These standouts include new films from perennial favorites like Hayao Miyazaki, Errol Morris, Bertrand Bonello, Yorgos Lanthimos, Kitty Green, Andrew Haigh, Bill and Turner Ross, and Alexander Payne. Rising stars aren’t in short supply either, including first and second narrative features from TIFF winner Cord Jefferson, Annie Baker, and Kristoffer Borgli. Amongst this selection, words like “gem,” “masterpiece,” and “crowd-pleaser” are thrown around with regularity, but not without real consideration.
These standouts include new films from perennial favorites like Hayao Miyazaki, Errol Morris, Bertrand Bonello, Yorgos Lanthimos, Kitty Green, Andrew Haigh, Bill and Turner Ross, and Alexander Payne. Rising stars aren’t in short supply either, including first and second narrative features from TIFF winner Cord Jefferson, Annie Baker, and Kristoffer Borgli. Amongst this selection, words like “gem,” “masterpiece,” and “crowd-pleaser” are thrown around with regularity, but not without real consideration.
- 10/16/2023
- by Kate Erbland, David Ehrlich and Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
On Friday nights, IndieWire After Dark takes a feature-length beat to honor fringe cinema in the streaming age.
First, the spoiler-free pitch for one editor’s midnight movie pick — something weird and wonderful from any age of film that deserves our memorializing.
Then, the spoiler-filled aftermath as experienced by the unwitting editor attacked by this week’s recommendation.
The Pitch: It’s the Sagrada Familia of Shitty Horror Movies
“Oh, this is your Sagrada Familia,” IndieWire’s Christian Zilko said to me as the credits of “Event Horizon” rolled, tears from laughter still streaming down my face. “You’re like one of those architecture nerds who think it’s more beautiful because it’s unfinished.”
Much like the semi-sentient spaceship in Paul W. S. Anderson’s magnificently misguided horror flick from 1997, Zilko knows me so well that I’m occasionally startled by his insights into my cinematic soul. That...
First, the spoiler-free pitch for one editor’s midnight movie pick — something weird and wonderful from any age of film that deserves our memorializing.
Then, the spoiler-filled aftermath as experienced by the unwitting editor attacked by this week’s recommendation.
The Pitch: It’s the Sagrada Familia of Shitty Horror Movies
“Oh, this is your Sagrada Familia,” IndieWire’s Christian Zilko said to me as the credits of “Event Horizon” rolled, tears from laughter still streaming down my face. “You’re like one of those architecture nerds who think it’s more beautiful because it’s unfinished.”
Much like the semi-sentient spaceship in Paul W. S. Anderson’s magnificently misguided horror flick from 1997, Zilko knows me so well that I’m occasionally startled by his insights into my cinematic soul. That...
- 10/14/2023
- by Alison Foreman and Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
When Mark Hamill set off to start filming "The Machine," he announced it in a video on Twitter, in which he claimed that he "might already regret this." Well, the movie arrived in 2023, and unfortunately, the box office and critical response pretty much proved Hamill right to be hesitant, even if he was only joking.
"The Machine" made a global total of $10.6 million on a budget of $20 million. Even worse were the reviews, with Rotten Tomatoes summarizing the film as "a sloppily lifeless movie," and "broken beyond repair." Poor old "Big fat Bert," as his "2 Bears 1 Cave" co-host Tom Segura lovingly calls him. He's just trying to spread some joy.
Rolling Stone referred to Kreischer as the "top partyer at the Number One Party School in the country" in their 1997 profile, and you might be surprised to hear that he originally had his life adapted to the big...
"The Machine" made a global total of $10.6 million on a budget of $20 million. Even worse were the reviews, with Rotten Tomatoes summarizing the film as "a sloppily lifeless movie," and "broken beyond repair." Poor old "Big fat Bert," as his "2 Bears 1 Cave" co-host Tom Segura lovingly calls him. He's just trying to spread some joy.
Rolling Stone referred to Kreischer as the "top partyer at the Number One Party School in the country" in their 1997 profile, and you might be surprised to hear that he originally had his life adapted to the big...
- 9/26/2023
- by Joe Roberts
- Slash Film
When thinking of the best French movies of the 21st century, there are some titles that leap to mind immediately, even if the past 23 years haven’t appeared to be as creatively fecund as the heady heights of the New Wave period. Celine Sciamma, François Ozon, Bruno Dumont, and Julia Ducournau have all produced stunning, instantly canonical works. But what’s interesting is to consider how expansive the idea of “Frenchness” in cinema has been this century: on the list below, Austrian Michael Haneke, Iranian Abbas Kiarostami, and American Julian Schnabel appear, with the main criterion for inclusion being simply the use of the French language.
Their inclusion does call into question a bit the idea of national cinemas. And yet, even in this highly interconnected, global 21st century, France singularly remains one of the medium’s most essential guiding lights. From the pioneer era of the Lumiere brothers to...
Their inclusion does call into question a bit the idea of national cinemas. And yet, even in this highly interconnected, global 21st century, France singularly remains one of the medium’s most essential guiding lights. From the pioneer era of the Lumiere brothers to...
- 9/25/2023
- by Eric Kohn and David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
From blockbuster sequels to bold arthouse fare, plenty of recent films have provoked strong responses from their proponents and detractors. Sometimes a film boasts objectively great craftsmanship but divisive ideas, other times something is beloved by casual fans despite not being critics’ cup of tea. In other cases, a box-office smash with a plum CinemaScore is excoriated by critics, whose credibility in the eyes of said ticket buyers, who may be skeptical of reviewers, ebbs yet again.
Last year, Baz Luhrmann’s Oscar-nominated “Elvis” drew a deep line in the sand: The rock ‘n roll epic starring Austin Butler shook up more than $288 million at the global box office and an A- CinemaScore despite wildly mixed reviews dating back to its Cannes 2022 premiere. For a 2022 awards season contrast, Todd Field’s “TÁR” starring Cate Blanchett conducted its way to $29 million worldwide despite almost universally flat-out-stunned reviews.
The full-blown return of...
Last year, Baz Luhrmann’s Oscar-nominated “Elvis” drew a deep line in the sand: The rock ‘n roll epic starring Austin Butler shook up more than $288 million at the global box office and an A- CinemaScore despite wildly mixed reviews dating back to its Cannes 2022 premiere. For a 2022 awards season contrast, Todd Field’s “TÁR” starring Cate Blanchett conducted its way to $29 million worldwide despite almost universally flat-out-stunned reviews.
The full-blown return of...
- 9/12/2023
- by Ryan Lattanzio and Alison Foreman
- Indiewire
Another year, another “strange time” for festivals. And yet, despite a pair of on-going strikes and an entertainment world that seems hellbent on remaining in flux, as the air turns chillier, it’s still time for the laurels to come out, and there are plenty of new films to get excited about seeing soon.
This year’s fall festival season includes new films from Hayao Miyazaki, Michael Mann, David Fincher, Ellen Kurras, Yorgos Lanthimos, Errol Morris, Pablo Larraín, Kitty Green, Andrew Haigh, Harmony Korine, and Anna Kendrick, and that’s only the start. There are films about everything from vampiric dictators to (actual) dicks, dumb money to stupid dreams, true stories of courage to fake stories of Nicolas Cage invading people’s minds, at least one very big suit, and so very much more.
And while a handful of films have opted to skip out on the festivals, like the...
This year’s fall festival season includes new films from Hayao Miyazaki, Michael Mann, David Fincher, Ellen Kurras, Yorgos Lanthimos, Errol Morris, Pablo Larraín, Kitty Green, Andrew Haigh, Harmony Korine, and Anna Kendrick, and that’s only the start. There are films about everything from vampiric dictators to (actual) dicks, dumb money to stupid dreams, true stories of courage to fake stories of Nicolas Cage invading people’s minds, at least one very big suit, and so very much more.
And while a handful of films have opted to skip out on the festivals, like the...
- 8/29/2023
- by Kate Erbland, Ryan Lattanzio and David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
As has become standard in recent years, our annual fall and winter film preview comes with something of an asterisk: it’s (another!) unpredictable time for movies, right down to when we might even expect to see them. With both the WGA and SAG-afra strikes still winding on, everything from production to promotion has been disrupted for many new features, and the entire calendar remains in flux.
And yet, even with those very valid concerns in place, the next three months at the multiplex (and beyond) offer a bounty of exciting new films. We’re talking new films from Martin Scorsese, Pablo Larraín, Sofia Coppola, Todd Haynes, Emerald Fennell, David Fincher, Jonathan Glazer, Taika Waititi, Justine Triet, Wes Anderson, and Yorgos Lanthimos. Jeff Nichols is back, as is Godfrey Reggio and the juicy stars of “Chicken Run.” Festival faves like Christos Nikou, Kristoffer Borgli, and Chloe Domont make a play for further dominance.
And yet, even with those very valid concerns in place, the next three months at the multiplex (and beyond) offer a bounty of exciting new films. We’re talking new films from Martin Scorsese, Pablo Larraín, Sofia Coppola, Todd Haynes, Emerald Fennell, David Fincher, Jonathan Glazer, Taika Waititi, Justine Triet, Wes Anderson, and Yorgos Lanthimos. Jeff Nichols is back, as is Godfrey Reggio and the juicy stars of “Chicken Run.” Festival faves like Christos Nikou, Kristoffer Borgli, and Chloe Domont make a play for further dominance.
- 8/22/2023
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
The ’80s was a decade of movies that you can hear at a roar even on mute. A screenshot of Tom Cruise and Rebecca De Mornay aboard the train in “Risky Business” has a sound to it. The same goes for a still image of Kaneda riding towards Neo-Tokyo in “Akira,” or Jack Nicholson’s car snaking its way up the mountains towards the Overlook Hotel during the opening titles of “The Shining.”
It was a decade of synths and sad jazz; a decade of legends reaching the height of their powers (e.g. John Williams and Ennio Morricone), and of newcomers from other disciplines becoming cinematic virtuosos in their own right (e.g. Ryuichi Sakamoto and Philip Glass). The movies had never sounded that way before, but the best film scores of the ’80s — our picks are listed below — continue to echo in our minds as if they’ve always been there.
It was a decade of synths and sad jazz; a decade of legends reaching the height of their powers (e.g. John Williams and Ennio Morricone), and of newcomers from other disciplines becoming cinematic virtuosos in their own right (e.g. Ryuichi Sakamoto and Philip Glass). The movies had never sounded that way before, but the best film scores of the ’80s — our picks are listed below — continue to echo in our minds as if they’ve always been there.
- 8/15/2023
- by David Ehrlich and Christian Blauvelt
- Indiewire
Whether or not you agree with Quentin Tarantino’s unsparing assertion that “’80s cinema is, along with the ’50s, the worst era in Hollywood history,” there’s a curiously undeniable truth to his follow-up statement: “Matched only by now! Matched only by the current era.” Revisiting the defining movies of the ’80s from our current perspective at the height of Barbenheimer summer, two things become abundantly clear.
The first is that modern Hollywood would probably need a Barbenheimer every month in order to equal the creative output of a studio system that used to be capable of releasing “Blade Runner” and “The Thing” on the same night as if it were just another Friday. The second is that, in a wide variety of different ways both negative and not, the ’80s provide a perfect match for the movies of our current moment — if not the current moment itself.
Perhaps that...
The first is that modern Hollywood would probably need a Barbenheimer every month in order to equal the creative output of a studio system that used to be capable of releasing “Blade Runner” and “The Thing” on the same night as if it were just another Friday. The second is that, in a wide variety of different ways both negative and not, the ’80s provide a perfect match for the movies of our current moment — if not the current moment itself.
Perhaps that...
- 8/14/2023
- by IndieWire Staff
- Indiewire
In this time of geekery and craft reigning supreme, film critics and academics no longer reject horror movies with the knee-jerk certainty some once did. But even now the specter of “elevated horror” (see that concept’s lambasting in Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett’s “Scream 5”) looms over discussions of artier explorations of dread and terror — Ari Aster’s “Midsommar,” Luca Guadagnino’s “Suspiria,” Rose Glass’ “Saint Maud” — that are clearly distinguished from, well, non-elevated horror. The general gist is that these exceptions to the “horror is bad” rule engage your brain more than just showing brains: eaten by zombies or splattered against the wall.
How can films that fire your adrenal glands, send shivers down your spine, raise goosebumps, and quicken your breath — that inspire such an intense physical reaction — also be cerebral experiences? The answer is obvious enough. Viewers forget all the time that, as Anna Karina...
How can films that fire your adrenal glands, send shivers down your spine, raise goosebumps, and quicken your breath — that inspire such an intense physical reaction — also be cerebral experiences? The answer is obvious enough. Viewers forget all the time that, as Anna Karina...
- 8/10/2023
- by Alison Foreman
- Indiewire
On Friday nights, IndieWire After Dark takes a feature-length beat to honor fringe cinema in the streaming age.
First, the spoiler-free pitch for one editor’s midnight movie pick — something weird and wonderful from any age of film that deserves our memorializing.
Then, the spoiler-filled aftermath as experienced by the unwitting editor attacked by this week’s recommendation.
The Pitch: Meaner Than “Mean Girls.” Hotter Than “Heathers.” Better Than Barbenheimer.
I feel like kind of a basic bitch recommending “Jawbreaker” for After Dark. Don’t get me wrong: Darren Stein’s fiendishly messed-up mean girl movie from 1999 is absolutely worth canonizing as one of the all-time great midnight movies, and generally speaking, I’ll find — and use — any excuse to rewatch this camp masterpiece faster than Carol Kane can say, “Be nice, girls.”
But it feels borderline obvious to suggest this bonafide cult classic and ode to candy-coated cruelty, widely...
First, the spoiler-free pitch for one editor’s midnight movie pick — something weird and wonderful from any age of film that deserves our memorializing.
Then, the spoiler-filled aftermath as experienced by the unwitting editor attacked by this week’s recommendation.
The Pitch: Meaner Than “Mean Girls.” Hotter Than “Heathers.” Better Than Barbenheimer.
I feel like kind of a basic bitch recommending “Jawbreaker” for After Dark. Don’t get me wrong: Darren Stein’s fiendishly messed-up mean girl movie from 1999 is absolutely worth canonizing as one of the all-time great midnight movies, and generally speaking, I’ll find — and use — any excuse to rewatch this camp masterpiece faster than Carol Kane can say, “Be nice, girls.”
But it feels borderline obvious to suggest this bonafide cult classic and ode to candy-coated cruelty, widely...
- 8/5/2023
- by Alison Foreman and Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
A bonafide staple of TV sitcom mastery, “Seinfeld” still lands. Co-created by its namesake star Jerry Seinfeld and “Curb Your Enthusiasm” lead Larry David, NBC’s legendary half-hour comedy weathered mixed reviews when it aired its pilot episode on July 5, 1989. The freshman installment, titled “The Seinfeld Chronicles” was entertaining, no question. But the brilliantly understated beats of a stand-up comedian living in New York City and his three closest friends talking about “nothing” ad infinitum had yet to be optimized for its raucous primetime potential.
Fast-forward history’s metaphoric VHS a few years and you’ve got one of the most successful eight-handers of the small screen ever made, heralded by a bass line and championed by a cast just as recognizable. Seinfeld appeared as a fictionalized version of himself opposite Jason Alexander as George Costanza, Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Elaine Benes, and Michael Richards as Cosmo Kramer for a whopping nine seasons.
Fast-forward history’s metaphoric VHS a few years and you’ve got one of the most successful eight-handers of the small screen ever made, heralded by a bass line and championed by a cast just as recognizable. Seinfeld appeared as a fictionalized version of himself opposite Jason Alexander as George Costanza, Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Elaine Benes, and Michael Richards as Cosmo Kramer for a whopping nine seasons.
- 8/3/2023
- by Alison Foreman
- Indiewire
It’s the shock of seeing Norman Bates, knife in hand, clad in his mother’s clothes, grinning maniacally in the swinging lamplight. It’s a supposedly dead husband rising from a bathtub with terrifying saucer contact-lenses. It’s finally connecting “I see dead people” with Bruce Willis being shot at the beginning of “The Sixth Sense.” When movies pull the rug out from under us, it’s one of the greatest thrills that cinema can provide.
As Hollywood continues to reboot countless old properties, it’s easy to think that the days of original and surprising storytelling are long behind us. But these films prove that Hollywood still has a few tricks up its sleeve, ones that have kept us talking for years, and have cemented their place in film history.
Beware of spoilers! Here are the best plot twists of the 21st century.
Samantha Bergeson, Christian Blauvelt, Jude Dry,...
As Hollywood continues to reboot countless old properties, it’s easy to think that the days of original and surprising storytelling are long behind us. But these films prove that Hollywood still has a few tricks up its sleeve, ones that have kept us talking for years, and have cemented their place in film history.
Beware of spoilers! Here are the best plot twists of the 21st century.
Samantha Bergeson, Christian Blauvelt, Jude Dry,...
- 7/28/2023
- by Wilson Chapman and Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
No filmmaker has ascended to the apex of Hollywood — and stayed there — without surviving the occasional flop. Everyone from Steven Spielberg and Quentin Tarantino to Martin Scorsese and Denis Villeneuve has released a film that, for whatever reason, didn’t resonate with audiences during its initial release. Filmmaking is a fickle industry, and if you make enough movies, one of them is bound to go wrong.
Many, many movies flop because they’re outright bad. In fact, if a blockbuster or big franchise movie goes wrong at the box office, it’s safe to assume that bad reviews and poor word-of-mouth is what scared audiences away. 2023 has given us plenty of examples of big-budget flops that flopped because of poor quality, like “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania”. Considering the slew of terrible superhero and action movies able to eke out a profit on name recognition alone, those are usually the most catastrophic and memorable failures.
Many, many movies flop because they’re outright bad. In fact, if a blockbuster or big franchise movie goes wrong at the box office, it’s safe to assume that bad reviews and poor word-of-mouth is what scared audiences away. 2023 has given us plenty of examples of big-budget flops that flopped because of poor quality, like “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania”. Considering the slew of terrible superhero and action movies able to eke out a profit on name recognition alone, those are usually the most catastrophic and memorable failures.
- 7/19/2023
- by Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
Name a beloved actor around a pack of cinephiles, and you will instantly be inundated with personalized lists considering — and reconsidering and reconsidering — their best and worst performances across genres. While we idolize movie stars for the high points of their careers, there is also something endlessly fascinating about seeing talented people stumble, fall, and fail.
Film lovers watch the careers of their favorite stars closely, and can usually tell when someone gives a bad performance. And oftentimes, the actor who gave that performance thinks it was bad too. Maybe it’s the knowing glint in Jamie Lee Curtis’ eyes that says, “Yes, ‘Virus’ is an exhausting piece of nonsense!” that helped turn the 1999 stinker into a cult film. Or perhaps it’s the nonplussed purse of the lips behind every line from Robert Pattinson in “Twilight” that made Edward Cullen so memorably (and maddeningly) annoying. Even if the end result is bad,...
Film lovers watch the careers of their favorite stars closely, and can usually tell when someone gives a bad performance. And oftentimes, the actor who gave that performance thinks it was bad too. Maybe it’s the knowing glint in Jamie Lee Curtis’ eyes that says, “Yes, ‘Virus’ is an exhausting piece of nonsense!” that helped turn the 1999 stinker into a cult film. Or perhaps it’s the nonplussed purse of the lips behind every line from Robert Pattinson in “Twilight” that made Edward Cullen so memorably (and maddeningly) annoying. Even if the end result is bad,...
- 7/18/2023
- by Alison Foreman and Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
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