The Independent had ran with a story last fall that we could expect Terrence Malick's “Radegund” to premiere either at Toronto or Venice. That didn't happen. Neither did Berlin, which announced its program a few weeks ago, so what's the deal? Is Cannes going to be the place we see Malick's latest opus? “Radegund” follows the real-life story of Austrian Franz Jägerstätter, who, famously, was a conscientious objector and refused to fight for the Nazis during World War II.
Read moreThe Guardian asks “Is Standup Comedy Dead?"
I wrote a similarly topical article last month,"The 2010s: A Decade When Comedy Lost Its Mojo, which laid the ground for a potential comedic doomsday, which we're quite clearly headed at if the "era of outrage" continues:"Comedians like to push and push and push until that very fine line of what is deemed acceptable and unacceptable is somewhat squeezed to its very limit. As George Carlin once said, “It’s a comedian’s duty to find the line and deliberately cross over it.” That, to me at least, is what some of the very best comedy can do. Regardless of the situation that we find ourselves in today when it comes to what can and cannot be said, which has its pros and its cons, we need to be grateful that a movie such as Ben Stiller's "Tropic Thunder" was considered fine to exist in multiplexes, albeit more than 10 years ago.The release of the comedy classic happening the same year President Obama got elected as the 44th President of the United States. And so, this was before Obama would amplify into the mainstream the idea of identity politics and further promote the acceptance and meaning of such terms as "white privilege," woke," "the patriarchy," "victim-blaming" ... you get my point."
*Final Oscar Predictions*
Tomorrow the nominees for the 91st Academy Awards will be announced in Los Angeles. This has been a fairly unpredictable race that has had most pundits scratching their heads at all the twists and turns that have happened. Me? I'm fairly confident about the following predictions.
Read moreEdgar Wright's Next Film is a Psychological Horror-Thriller; Also Claims “Baby Driver 2" In the Works.
I like Edgar Wright's movies, for the most part, his camera always fluid, his shots always perfectly placed, but sometimes he has a knack for being a little too silly and overreaching with his stories. That's fine, I'd rather have ambition than someone taking no risks at all-- he's only growing as a filmmaker, I can see his filmography going up in quality as he matures in age. It's a given with Wright, or any director really, that you learn from your past errors. His last film "Baby Driver" featured some of the very best set-pieces of his career, he consulted with "Mad Max: Fury Road" director George Miller for help in how to pull off some of those complicated car chase sequences, with the full intent of using practical effects.
Read more2019 Razzies Nominees Include “Gotti," “Holmes & Watson," “The Happytime Murders" lead with 6 nominations each; Donald Trump Nominated for Worst Actor?
The Razzies are intended to call out the worst cinematic endeavors of the past year, it's all in good fun, especially since, and people forget this, recognition for these nadirs-of-the-cinematic-world actually tends to boost home video sales for the "honorees." I mean, who wouldn't want to see John Travolta hamming it up as mobster John Gotti?
Read moreClint Eastwood is still a box-office draw at 88-years-old; “The Mule” has amassed a domestic total of $101.4 million
Warner Bros.’ “The Mule” has amassed a domestic total of $101.4 million against a budget of $50 million. Don't be surprised by that total, it's Clint Eastwood.
Read more‘Toy Story 3,’ and ‘Coco’ Director Lee Unkrich Exiting Pixar
I had initially heard about director Lee Unkrich when he was hired as director for "Toy Story 3." Little did I know that he had also worked behind the scenes as an editor on "Toy Story," and has had co-director credits on "Finding Nemo," "Toy Story 2," and "Monsters Inc." Anyway, "Toy Story 3" was his own creation and it was such a success that he then was tasked to helm "Coco“ which ended up making close $800 Million worldwide.
Read morePeter Farrelly’s Green Book Wins PGA; Back to Being Best Picture Front-runner.
Peter Farrelly's "Green Book" has won the Producers Guild of America award, all but sealing its fate as the Best Picture frontrunner for the upcoming 91st Academy Awards. Does that mean it's going to win the whole shebang? Of course not. But it does give us some kind of idea as to who should be favored come Oscar night, especially since this has been such an unpredictable awards season. At some point, during these last few months, more than 5 films have been touted as the frontrunner for the prize. I'm not kidding, "A Star is Born," "Black Panther," "Roma" and "BlackKklansman" have all had their turns. However, if you're an Oscar pundit, the PGA is the most legitimate precursor to adhere to, if you follow the odds of course.
Read moreLeslie Jones Compares Upcoming Ghostbusters Reboot to Donald Trump
Leslie Jones, who starred in director Paul Feig's all-female "Ghostbusters" reboot, is understandably irked about the upcoming Jason Reitman film, which is said to take place in a Ghostbusters-verse which pretends like Feig's film never existed. Jones went to twitter, where else, to voice her discontentment towards Reitman's upcoming film which is supposed to be released in 2020.
Read moreDario Argento claims Luca Guadagnino’s ‘Suspiria’ remake ‘betrayed’ his original version
Luca Guadagnino's remake of "Suspiria" failed to ignite both critics and audience's cinematic juices and now, the original director of the horror classic, Dario Argento, claims he's not too happy either with the remake.
Read moreRichard Linklater’s Latest Has Release Date Bumped Again, Now Set for August 9th Release
As much as I look forward to any film the great Richard Linklater releases, I couldn't help but notice that his name was completely absent from the trailer for his latest venture "Where’d You Go, Bernadette." Rather, the film was being marketed as an adaptation of a very popular mainstream novel.
Read more‘Dogman’ Trailer: Cannes Award Winner is One of the Year’s Best
“Dogman” turns out to be a kind of David vs. Goliath story. Described as an urban western, while the drama does possess traces of Eastwood’s early no-frills gut-punches, it’s also very much a B-movie soaked in horror and revenge. It finds director Mateo Garrone back in fine form and mostly, at the height of his game; the allure of his monstrous antagonistic character is undeniable and he earns extra credit for creating one of the most reprehensible movie villains in recent memory.
Read moreNetflix Claims 80 Million Subscribers Watched “Bird Box”; They Have 139 Million Accounts.
Bear with me here.
Due to Netflix's persistent refusal to release its viewership numbers, a case could be made, and has been made, of the streaming giant skewing with their final tallies. They also have tendency to selectively highlight some of their successes. Take, for example, today's announcement that they have hit 139 million subscribers and that 80 million of them watched the Sandra Bullockhit "Bird Box."
Read moreLouis C.K: “If you ever need people to forget that you jerked off, what you do is you make a joke about kids that got shot.”
The Louis C.K. comedy tour keeps rolling on.
The comedian's latest set is, again, making headlines. According to a report given by The Daily Beast's Stacey Solie, C.K. was greeted by a standing ovation and performed a sold out stand-up show on January 16th in San Jose, California. During the 90-minute set, C.K. tackled the topics of masturbating in front people, the Parkland shooting, 9/11 and the mentally challenged.
Read more‘Roma’ Has Turned Into the De Facto Best Picture Frontrunner
"Roma" has escaped unscathed of backlash thus far this awards season. With the lack of any sort of controversy surrounding Alfonso Cuaron's Mexico-based tone poem, its momentum is now firmly in high gear, it looks like it will be the film to beat this Oscar season.
Read moreTrailer for Steven Soderbergh’s ‘High Flying Bird,’ Set to Premiere at Slamdance
I love Steven Soderbergh's work. Yeah, he's the kind of the director that takes so many risks that he's become the epitome of hit and miss, but what risks! Let us forget the initial phase of his career between 1989 and 2001 ("Sex, Lies and Videotape," "The Limey," "Out of Sight," "Traffic," "Erin Brockovich," "Oceans Eleven").
Read moreSXSW Announces Film Lineup; Includes New Films by Jordan Peele, Harmony Korine, John Lee Hancock and Lynn Shelton
This year’s SXSW is tempting me to cover it again. Jordan Peele's highly-anticipated follow-up to “Get Out,” titled “Us,” is already a bigger "get" than any film premiering at Sundance this year, and the rest of the lineup, announced just now, looks mighty impressive.
Read moreMacaulay Culkin Defends Michael Jackson; Says They Had a “Normal Friendship” Together.
Macaulay Culkin defended his friendship with Michael Jackon during an appearance on the “Inside Of You” podcast.
He was asked by host Michael Rosenbaum about MJ, but Culkin admitted feeling a little “ambushed," adding, “He reached out to me because a lot of things were happening big and fast with me, and I think he identified with that,” Culkin said about Jackson. “I mean at the end of the day, it’s almost easy to say it was weird or whatever, but it wasn’t because it made sense. Here’s the thing at the end of the day: We were friends. It’s one of my friendships that people question only because of the fact that he was the most famous person in the world.”
Read moreKathy Griffin Lashes Out at Don Cheadle for “Not Supporting Her” After She Held A Severed Trump Head; Cheadle’s Response “Huh!?”
The "ever-so-lovely" Kathy Griffin has lashed out at Don Cheadle on social media for his lack of support after backlash occurred in May of 2017 when Griffin posted a photo of her holding up asevered Donald Trump head.
Read moreTrailer for Claire Denis’ Polarizing ‘High Life’
Claire Denis‘ "High Life" had an underwhelming world premiere at the Roy Thomson Hall during the Toronto Film Festival, for which I attended. Around half the audience had already left the theater by the time the film ended, you could just tell nobody was into it. And this is coming from a fest that prides itself in having the best audience in the world. Even Toronto audiences couldn't deal with the metaphorical artsy ambitions that were unfurling on-screen. And I don't mean that as a detraction of Denis' mad ambitions in "High Life," which, by all accounts, warrants a repeat viewing on my part. For now, I'll refrain from reviewing "High Life," until I watch it a second time, but Denis will have her widest audience ever for this sci-fi film, which has her working with the biggest budget of her career and stars Robert Pattinson. And by sci-fi I don't mean something akin to Christopher Nolan, this is Claire Denis after all, she makes personal films that are all but impenetrable for mainstream moviegoers.
Read more