Movie News
Disney and 20th Century’s “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” climbed to $72.5 million at the international box office in its first weekend of release.
The newest film in the long-running “Apes” series also notched No. 1 in North America with $56.5 million, bringing its initial global tally to a promising $129 million. Like its predecessors, the $160 million-budgeted “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” is projected to earn the bulk of its revenues at the international box office.
Overseas, the movie enjoyed the biggest start in China with $11.4 million (a lackluster debut for the territory), France with $7.1 million, Mexico with $6.4 million and the United Kingdom with $4.8 million. Other top markets were Korea ($3.2 million), Australia ($2.7 million), Brazil ($2.6 million), Germany (2.2 million) and Spain ($2.2 million).
Audiences opted to watch the film in the best possible quality as premium formats represented 41% of global box office revenues. In Imax alone, “Kingdom” earned $13.2 million worldwide, including $6.2 million from foreign territories.
The newest film in the long-running “Apes” series also notched No. 1 in North America with $56.5 million, bringing its initial global tally to a promising $129 million. Like its predecessors, the $160 million-budgeted “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” is projected to earn the bulk of its revenues at the international box office.
Overseas, the movie enjoyed the biggest start in China with $11.4 million (a lackluster debut for the territory), France with $7.1 million, Mexico with $6.4 million and the United Kingdom with $4.8 million. Other top markets were Korea ($3.2 million), Australia ($2.7 million), Brazil ($2.6 million), Germany (2.2 million) and Spain ($2.2 million).
Audiences opted to watch the film in the best possible quality as premium formats represented 41% of global box office revenues. In Imax alone, “Kingdom” earned $13.2 million worldwide, including $6.2 million from foreign territories.
- 5/12/2024
- by Rebecca Rubin
- Variety - Film News
Legendary B-movie king Roger Corman, who directed and produced hundreds of low-budget films and discovered such future industry stars as Jack Nicholson, Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro, has died. He was 98.
Corman died May 9 at his home in Santa Monica, Calif., surrounded by family members, the family confirmed to Variety.
“His films were revolutionary and iconoclastic, and captured the spirit of an age. When asked how he would like to be remembered, he said, ‘I was a filmmaker, just that,'” the family said in a statement.
Corman’s empire, which existed in several incarnations, including New World Pictures,...
Corman died May 9 at his home in Santa Monica, Calif., surrounded by family members, the family confirmed to Variety.
“His films were revolutionary and iconoclastic, and captured the spirit of an age. When asked how he would like to be remembered, he said, ‘I was a filmmaker, just that,'” the family said in a statement.
Corman’s empire, which existed in several incarnations, including New World Pictures,...
- 5/12/2024
- by Richard Natale and Tim Gray
- Variety - TV News
Does Walton Goggins smell an Emmy approaching? Probably not, but only because his character in Amazon Prime Video’s hit “Fallout” TV series doesn’t have a nose. But nevertheless, his performance is earning rave reviews and awards voters are known to love a transformation. Goggins spent hours in the makeup chair before almost every shoot to turn into The Ghoul, a lone-wolf wastelander who’s been around for hundreds of years. In an interview with Deadline Studio at Prime Experience, Goggins acknowledged the difficulties of taking on this character physically and emotionally.
“The very first time we did the application [of his mask],” Goggins said, “I asked to be left alone for an hour and a half outside and Jonah [Nolan] came by. I just sat outside by myself and just photographed it like in the sun and in the shade. I was extremely intimidated but excited to see how this Ferrari would work.
“The very first time we did the application [of his mask],” Goggins said, “I asked to be left alone for an hour and a half outside and Jonah [Nolan] came by. I just sat outside by myself and just photographed it like in the sun and in the shade. I was extremely intimidated but excited to see how this Ferrari would work.
- 5/13/2024
- by Harrison Richlin
- Indiewire
A tender film about the music of Mayan descendants is hampered by the alofty adherence to a documentary aesthetic where nothing is explained
This film about a flute player and farmer named José Pérez López from Zinacantán in Chiapas, Mexico, teems with beautifully shot images of folks playing music, embroidering, participating in days-long community rituals, and tending their crops of flowers in polytunnels – pretty normal everyday stuff. It feels a little more elevated because it affords a glimpse into the life of descendants of the Mayans who practice ancestor worship and polytheistic beliefs but also have shrines with Catholic saints. The film’s website has a handy chunk of text about Bats’i son ta Sots’leb, the traditional music of Zinacantán, described in fascinating musicological detail.
It’s a shame that kind of explanatory background can’t be found anywhere in the movie. In fact, the subtitles and dialogue...
This film about a flute player and farmer named José Pérez López from Zinacantán in Chiapas, Mexico, teems with beautifully shot images of folks playing music, embroidering, participating in days-long community rituals, and tending their crops of flowers in polytunnels – pretty normal everyday stuff. It feels a little more elevated because it affords a glimpse into the life of descendants of the Mayans who practice ancestor worship and polytheistic beliefs but also have shrines with Catholic saints. The film’s website has a handy chunk of text about Bats’i son ta Sots’leb, the traditional music of Zinacantán, described in fascinating musicological detail.
It’s a shame that kind of explanatory background can’t be found anywhere in the movie. In fact, the subtitles and dialogue...
- 5/13/2024
- by Leslie Felperin
- The Guardian - Film News
Once a celebration of arthouse raunch, the film festival has had to change in the #MeToo era. Is that why, on screen and off, pooches are everywhere this year? Our writer goes walkies on the Côte d’Azur
One of the most eagerly anticipated talents about to grace the red carpet at Cannes this week is tall, blond, leggy and has a seductively husky voice. Par for the course, you might think, at the glitzy, notoriously libidinous film festival on the sun-kissed Côte d’Azur – were it not for that lolling tongue and the fact that the bag in the hands of the entourage is more likely to be a doggy-doo than a Birkin or Chanel.
Fawn-maned griffon cross Kodi is the star of French-Swiss actor Laetitia Dosch’s directorial debut Dog on Trial, a film that feels precision-engineered for Cannes’ 77th edition in more ways than one. Dosch tells...
One of the most eagerly anticipated talents about to grace the red carpet at Cannes this week is tall, blond, leggy and has a seductively husky voice. Par for the course, you might think, at the glitzy, notoriously libidinous film festival on the sun-kissed Côte d’Azur – were it not for that lolling tongue and the fact that the bag in the hands of the entourage is more likely to be a doggy-doo than a Birkin or Chanel.
Fawn-maned griffon cross Kodi is the star of French-Swiss actor Laetitia Dosch’s directorial debut Dog on Trial, a film that feels precision-engineered for Cannes’ 77th edition in more ways than one. Dosch tells...
- 5/13/2024
- by Philip Oltermann
- The Guardian - Film News
“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” debuted on top of the mainland China box office with an opening weekend score of $11.4 million (RMB81.1 million).
That was only the fourth weekend this year that a Hollywood film has topped the China charts and the third time in 2024 that a Hollywood title has opened on top. “Apes” was also the top film this weekend in North America and international markets.
Data from consultancy firm Artisan Gateway showed that the film accounted for some 30% of the theatrical total on a weekend where theaters earned a combined $38.2 million. The nationwide total represented a significant slump compared with the previous May Day holiday weekend which was worth $109 million.
On a year-to-date basis, Chinese theaters have earned $2.92 billion. That still leaves China as the world’s biggest theatrical market so far in 2024, ahead of North America where cumulative takings amount to $2.92. But the gap may...
That was only the fourth weekend this year that a Hollywood film has topped the China charts and the third time in 2024 that a Hollywood title has opened on top. “Apes” was also the top film this weekend in North America and international markets.
Data from consultancy firm Artisan Gateway showed that the film accounted for some 30% of the theatrical total on a weekend where theaters earned a combined $38.2 million. The nationwide total represented a significant slump compared with the previous May Day holiday weekend which was worth $109 million.
On a year-to-date basis, Chinese theaters have earned $2.92 billion. That still leaves China as the world’s biggest theatrical market so far in 2024, ahead of North America where cumulative takings amount to $2.92. But the gap may...
- 5/13/2024
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety - Film News
There were multiple crossovers between the original "Star Trek" and "Star Trek: The Next Generation." This first happened in the 1987 pilot episode of the latter, wherein DeForest Kelley appeared as a very elderly — 137! — Dr. McCoy. Then in 1991's "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country," Captain Kirk (William Shatner) and Dr. McCoy were put on trial in a Klingon court, and their Klingon defense lawyer was played by "Next Generation" Worf actor Michael Dorn. There is some debate as to whether or not Dorn was playing an ancestor of Worf's in that film. What's more, Sarek (Mark Lenard) appeared on "Next Generation" in an episode devoted to him.
Later still, Spock (Leonard Nimoy) appeared in a two-part episode of "Next Generation" as a rogue diplomat trying to reunify the Romulans and the Vulcans. Luckily, Vulcans are very long-lived. And finally, Scotty (James Doohan) appeared on an episode of "Next Generation," having...
Later still, Spock (Leonard Nimoy) appeared in a two-part episode of "Next Generation" as a rogue diplomat trying to reunify the Romulans and the Vulcans. Luckily, Vulcans are very long-lived. And finally, Scotty (James Doohan) appeared on an episode of "Next Generation," having...
- 5/13/2024
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
This post contains spoilers for AMC's "Interview with the Vampire."
What is the price of being immortal? The true bane of immortality is erosion, where memories elongate and distort over time, and our perceptions of people ebb and flow with the power of hindsight and the lull of nostalgia. If an immortal were to narrate their lives on record, recount every delightful and traumatic memory in vivid detail, would these accounts be considered "truth"? This crucial question lies at the heart of the season 2 premiere of "Interview with the Vampire," which builds on the slanted truth of its first season and deepens the distortions of experiencing emotions that never end.
The AMC show has already proven its ingenuity in adapting a classic novel series that is beloved and controversial. It has identified the core appeal of Anne Rice's "The Vampire Chronicles" by leaning on the novel series' danger-tinged...
What is the price of being immortal? The true bane of immortality is erosion, where memories elongate and distort over time, and our perceptions of people ebb and flow with the power of hindsight and the lull of nostalgia. If an immortal were to narrate their lives on record, recount every delightful and traumatic memory in vivid detail, would these accounts be considered "truth"? This crucial question lies at the heart of the season 2 premiere of "Interview with the Vampire," which builds on the slanted truth of its first season and deepens the distortions of experiencing emotions that never end.
The AMC show has already proven its ingenuity in adapting a classic novel series that is beloved and controversial. It has identified the core appeal of Anne Rice's "The Vampire Chronicles" by leaning on the novel series' danger-tinged...
- 5/13/2024
- by Debopriyaa Dutta
- Slash Film
“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” opened in second place at the South Korean weekend box office, a distance behind local holdover title “The Roundup: Punishment.”
“Punishment,” the fourth part of Don Lee’s “Roundup” action franchise, dominated proceedings for the third weekend in succession. It earned $5.53 million and advanced its cumulative total to $67.7 million, according to Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic). Its earnings represented a still strong 58% share of the weekend theatrical market, but they were also down by 60% week-on-week, suggesting that “Punishment” may not reach the heights of the previous franchise elements.
In 2022, “The Roundup” earned $95.7 million (using current rates of currency exchange), while last year “The Roundup: No Way Out” earned $76.3 million.
“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” recorded $2.45 million between Friday and Sunday with a 26% market share. Over its full five-day opening in Korea, the film earned $3.10 million from 415,000 ticket sales.
“Punishment,” the fourth part of Don Lee’s “Roundup” action franchise, dominated proceedings for the third weekend in succession. It earned $5.53 million and advanced its cumulative total to $67.7 million, according to Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic). Its earnings represented a still strong 58% share of the weekend theatrical market, but they were also down by 60% week-on-week, suggesting that “Punishment” may not reach the heights of the previous franchise elements.
In 2022, “The Roundup” earned $95.7 million (using current rates of currency exchange), while last year “The Roundup: No Way Out” earned $76.3 million.
“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” recorded $2.45 million between Friday and Sunday with a 26% market share. Over its full five-day opening in Korea, the film earned $3.10 million from 415,000 ticket sales.
- 5/13/2024
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety - Film News
40 years later, the original "A Nightmare on Elm Street" has more than earned its place in cinema history as a slasher classic. Written and directed by the late (and very much missed) Wes Craven, the 1984 horror film follows a group of teens from Springwood, Ohio -- which looks suspiciously like Los Angeles in several shots, but charmingly so -- as they begin dreaming of the same mysterious figure. This man, whose face is covered in burn marks and wears a glove armed with razor blades, is no shared figment of their imagination. He's Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund), the vengeful ghost of a local child murderer who now has the power to kill his victims in their sleep.
Why is he vengeful? Freddy, you see, was eventually arrested but avoided punishment after getting off on a legal technicality. In retaliation, his victims' loved ones hunted him down and burnt him to death,...
Why is he vengeful? Freddy, you see, was eventually arrested but avoided punishment after getting off on a legal technicality. In retaliation, his victims' loved ones hunted him down and burnt him to death,...
- 5/13/2024
- by Sandy Schaefer
- Slash Film
Mark Damon, an actor-turned-independent sales executive who was a force in the foreign sales world and at film markets for many decades, died Sunday in Los Angeles, according to his wife. He was 91.
Damon won the Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer for his starring role in 1960’s “House of Usher” for director Roger Corman, who died Thursday, then went on to appear in numerous Spaghetti Westerns and other B-movies shot in Europe, from “Johnny Yuma” to Mario Bava’s “Black Sabbath.”
Born Alan Harris in Chicago, Damon earned an Mba at UCLA, then moved to Rome where he established a busy acting career. When he returned to the U.S., he founded Producers Sales Organization to bring American independent films to international distributors, helping launch the American Film Market and Independent Film & Television Alliance.
He explained how his business started in a 2013 Variety profile: “Back in 1975, it was very tough.
Damon won the Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer for his starring role in 1960’s “House of Usher” for director Roger Corman, who died Thursday, then went on to appear in numerous Spaghetti Westerns and other B-movies shot in Europe, from “Johnny Yuma” to Mario Bava’s “Black Sabbath.”
Born Alan Harris in Chicago, Damon earned an Mba at UCLA, then moved to Rome where he established a busy acting career. When he returned to the U.S., he founded Producers Sales Organization to bring American independent films to international distributors, helping launch the American Film Market and Independent Film & Television Alliance.
He explained how his business started in a 2013 Variety profile: “Back in 1975, it was very tough.
- 5/13/2024
- by Pat Saperstein
- Variety - Film News
When you think of Sean Connery, you probably think of either James Bond or Indiana Jones' dad. If you grew up in the '90s you might even think of that movie where he was on a submarine, or vaguely recall the marketing for a film where he played opposite Catherine Zeta-Jones. But there's no doubt that long before Connery was advising the "Hunt for Red October" director to rewrite the film's script, or complaining about "Entrapment" having too many special effects, he was best known as either England's greatest spy or as Dr. Henry Jones, Sr.
Still, when it comes to an actor as talented as Connery, not everyone thinks of these roles as his best. If you ask Christopher Nolan, for instance, he'll tell you that the Scottish star's finest performance came in Sidney Lumet's 1973 crime drama "The Offence," with Nolan recently celebrating the film for containing...
Still, when it comes to an actor as talented as Connery, not everyone thinks of these roles as his best. If you ask Christopher Nolan, for instance, he'll tell you that the Scottish star's finest performance came in Sidney Lumet's 1973 crime drama "The Offence," with Nolan recently celebrating the film for containing...
- 5/13/2024
- by Joe Roberts
- Slash Film
It’s a cardinal rule of entertainment obsession that if any movie, TV show, or special explicitly offers you contact information — be it a phone number, a social media account, or an email address — you try to use it.
Following that lead out of “Hannah Gadsby’s Gender Agenda,” which debuted March 5 on Netflix, DeAnne Smith discovered a bouncy and bold new reason for sneaking just that sort of bonus content into stand-up comedy. Commemorating their specific experience as a nonbinary person through a secret inbox for fans (something Smith is still managing in their spare time offstage months later), the agender comedian found a means of connecting to both cis and trans people through a shared interest: boobs.
“I wanted to talk about top surgery because I know that’s not relatable to everyone, but I wanted to reach people that it was relatable to,” Smith told IndieWire. For the...
Following that lead out of “Hannah Gadsby’s Gender Agenda,” which debuted March 5 on Netflix, DeAnne Smith discovered a bouncy and bold new reason for sneaking just that sort of bonus content into stand-up comedy. Commemorating their specific experience as a nonbinary person through a secret inbox for fans (something Smith is still managing in their spare time offstage months later), the agender comedian found a means of connecting to both cis and trans people through a shared interest: boobs.
“I wanted to talk about top surgery because I know that’s not relatable to everyone, but I wanted to reach people that it was relatable to,” Smith told IndieWire. For the...
- 5/12/2024
- by Alison Foreman
- Indiewire
“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” may not feature the words of screenwriting power couple Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, but their imprint is all over the reboot franchise and because of the producer credit they fought for when they wrote “Rise,” their names will be too. Having been an agent before he transitioned into screenwriting, Jaffa was well acquainted with the benefits of obtaining producer status and it has since allowed him and wife Amanda Silver to maintain ownership over a reboot franchise many consider to be better than its predecessor. In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Jaffa said his creative shift away from agency work wasn’t much of a surprise, but that Silver helped him along.
“I loved movies and saw a ton of films,”Jaffa said of how he spent his youth. “I would drive from the small town I grew up in...
“I loved movies and saw a ton of films,”Jaffa said of how he spent his youth. “I would drive from the small town I grew up in...
- 5/12/2024
- by Harrison Richlin
- Indiewire
For many years, Frank Herbert's "Dune" saga was described as impossible to adapt. Oh, people tried (check out our ranking of the "Dune" movies/TV here), but it wasn't until director Denis Villeneuve's two recent "Dune" films (with a third movie forthcoming) that one of these efforts was acclaimed. Villeneuve went from making a sequel to "Blade Runner" to adapting a story deemed a white whale. You can't say he doesn't have ambition, but even he has his limits.
Speaking to IndieWire in 2022, "Dune" screenwriter Eric Roth described his original pitch for the movie's opening sequence. Essentially, it was the Book of Genesis, Arrakis edition: "I started the movie with what would seem to be 'Genesis — 'and God created'— and you think you're seeing the formation of the Earth. And it's Dune, with wild animals, things you've never seen."
Roth remembered Villeneuve's answer, "This is magnificent, but...
Speaking to IndieWire in 2022, "Dune" screenwriter Eric Roth described his original pitch for the movie's opening sequence. Essentially, it was the Book of Genesis, Arrakis edition: "I started the movie with what would seem to be 'Genesis — 'and God created'— and you think you're seeing the formation of the Earth. And it's Dune, with wild animals, things you've never seen."
Roth remembered Villeneuve's answer, "This is magnificent, but...
- 5/12/2024
- by Devin Meenan
- Slash Film
Mark Damon, the former spaghetti western leading man who turned to a pioneering career in independent sales and financing and was a fixture at the film markets, has died on the eve of Cannes. He was 91.
Damon’s representatives confirmed he died in Los Angeles on Sunday (May 12).
Damon produced, packaged and sold numerous films and led Producer Sales Organization (Pso), Vision International, Mdp Worldwide, Media 8, and most recently Foresight Unlimited.
He attended Cannes dozens of times and produced or served as executive producer on more than 70 films.
One of his most illustrious producer credits came at Media 8 with Patty Jenkins’ Monster.
Damon’s representatives confirmed he died in Los Angeles on Sunday (May 12).
Damon produced, packaged and sold numerous films and led Producer Sales Organization (Pso), Vision International, Mdp Worldwide, Media 8, and most recently Foresight Unlimited.
He attended Cannes dozens of times and produced or served as executive producer on more than 70 films.
One of his most illustrious producer credits came at Media 8 with Patty Jenkins’ Monster.
- 5/12/2024
- ScreenDaily
Before "Star Wars," there was "Thx 1138." A strange, dystopic science fiction movie packed with big ideas up to its eyeballs, "Thx 1138" is now mostly known as the feature directorial debut of one George Walton Lucas Jr. (though it also came back in conversation when the best episode of "Andor" paid homage to it). The future Lucasfilm founder originally created this story of repressed emotions and stymied sexuality as a student film, but by the time it was reimagined as a feature, it had gained backing from Warner Bros.
Lucas' American Zoetrope co-founder Francis Ford Coppola also had faith in the movie, and served as one of its producers. "Thx 1138" starred Robert Duvall, then already known for his work on stage and television, not to mention in films like "To Kill A Mockingbird," "M*A*S*H," and "True Grit." Future "Halloween" actor Donald Pleasence co-starred, along with a then-unknown actress named Maggie McOmie.
Lucas' American Zoetrope co-founder Francis Ford Coppola also had faith in the movie, and served as one of its producers. "Thx 1138" starred Robert Duvall, then already known for his work on stage and television, not to mention in films like "To Kill A Mockingbird," "M*A*S*H," and "True Grit." Future "Halloween" actor Donald Pleasence co-starred, along with a then-unknown actress named Maggie McOmie.
- 5/12/2024
- by Valerie Ettenhofer
- Slash Film
Is Disney about to have its own “Before” series? Just as Richard Linklater’s day-in-the-life romances touch in on the lives of Celine and Jesse at different points in their lives, Amy Poehler would like to see the “Inside Out” sequels explore main character Riley’s emotions at different stages in her aging.
“I just think that they should make these films like ‘Seven Up,’ every couple of years in Riley’s life,” she said in an interview with Empire. “A young adult, and a young mother, and I think a middle-aged person — everyone’s having these very distinct new emotions that are showing up all the time.”
Speaking to IndieWire last month for a sneak peek of “Inside Out 2,” the film’s director Kelsey Mann echoed that idea of “new emotions showing up” being central to how he looked at this new chapter.
“I hated everyone looking at me,...
“I just think that they should make these films like ‘Seven Up,’ every couple of years in Riley’s life,” she said in an interview with Empire. “A young adult, and a young mother, and I think a middle-aged person — everyone’s having these very distinct new emotions that are showing up all the time.”
Speaking to IndieWire last month for a sneak peek of “Inside Out 2,” the film’s director Kelsey Mann echoed that idea of “new emotions showing up” being central to how he looked at this new chapter.
“I hated everyone looking at me,...
- 5/12/2024
- by Harrison Richlin
- Indiewire
"Star Wars" is very unique even in and amongst other major franchises. One thing that stands out is that even minor characters with mere seconds of screen time can achieve some form of infamy in the greater pop culture consciousness. Boba Fett, played by actor Jeremy Bulloch, remains the best example of this. But Amy Allen experienced her own version of this phenomenon when she played the Twi'lek Jedi Master Aayla Secura in George Lucas' prequel trilogy.
Aayla appeared in both "Attack of the Clones" and "Revenge of the Sith," though she traces her roots back to the pages of the "Star Wars" comics published by Dark Horse in the early 2000s, having appeared on the cover of "Star Wars" #33 in 2001 as part of the "Darkness" arc, for example. So, how did Allen come to bring the Jedi to life on the big screen? The actress explained to Tatooine Times...
Aayla appeared in both "Attack of the Clones" and "Revenge of the Sith," though she traces her roots back to the pages of the "Star Wars" comics published by Dark Horse in the early 2000s, having appeared on the cover of "Star Wars" #33 in 2001 as part of the "Darkness" arc, for example. So, how did Allen come to bring the Jedi to life on the big screen? The actress explained to Tatooine Times...
- 5/12/2024
- by Ryan Scott
- Slash Film
Susan Backlinie, who played the first shark attack victim in Steven Spielberg’s “Jaws,” has died. She was 77.
Backlinie died Saturday morning at her California home due to a heart attack, Convention All Stars owner Sean Clark confirmed to Variety. The former actor and stuntwoman was one of the company’s clients.
Backlinie was best known for her role as Chrissie Watkins in “Jaws,” who is dragged to her death by a killer shark in the 1975 film’s iconic opening scene. Backlinie specialized in swimming work as a stunt performer.
Contrary to widespread belief, Backlinie’s screams of anguish in the “Jaws” opening scene were not due to her being injured by the harness that jerked her back and forth. However, no one warned Backlinie when she would be pulled underwater in order to get a genuine reaction from her.
Variety‘s “Jaws” review said of the shark attack sequences:...
Backlinie died Saturday morning at her California home due to a heart attack, Convention All Stars owner Sean Clark confirmed to Variety. The former actor and stuntwoman was one of the company’s clients.
Backlinie was best known for her role as Chrissie Watkins in “Jaws,” who is dragged to her death by a killer shark in the 1975 film’s iconic opening scene. Backlinie specialized in swimming work as a stunt performer.
Contrary to widespread belief, Backlinie’s screams of anguish in the “Jaws” opening scene were not due to her being injured by the harness that jerked her back and forth. However, no one warned Backlinie when she would be pulled underwater in order to get a genuine reaction from her.
Variety‘s “Jaws” review said of the shark attack sequences:...
- 5/12/2024
- by Selena Kuznikov and Michaela Zee
- Variety - Film News
Back in 2017, Robinne Lee dropped by a local L.A. news station for an interview promoting her role in “Fifty Shades Darker,” the second film in the steamy series based on books by E.L. James.
“You’re venturing out a little bit now with a new novel…” the Kcal anchor said to Lee, whose filmography already included “Deliver Us From Eva,” “Hitch” and “13 Going on 30,” teeing the actor up to mention her career pivot. “I have a novel coming out this spring called ‘The Idea of You,’” Lee replied, grinning.
The premise was unique: A divorced mother and art gallery owner, living in L.A. on the precipice of turning 40, takes her daughter to a concert meet-and-greet and the 20-year-old lead singer of the band falls in love with her. The story, Lee explained, was “as much about a love story complicated by celebrity and the underbelly of...
“You’re venturing out a little bit now with a new novel…” the Kcal anchor said to Lee, whose filmography already included “Deliver Us From Eva,” “Hitch” and “13 Going on 30,” teeing the actor up to mention her career pivot. “I have a novel coming out this spring called ‘The Idea of You,’” Lee replied, grinning.
The premise was unique: A divorced mother and art gallery owner, living in L.A. on the precipice of turning 40, takes her daughter to a concert meet-and-greet and the 20-year-old lead singer of the band falls in love with her. The story, Lee explained, was “as much about a love story complicated by celebrity and the underbelly of...
- 5/12/2024
- by Angelique Jackson and Michaela Zee
- Variety - Film News
"Carrie" is the book that put Stephen King on the map. When King wrote it, he was struggling financially, eking out a living selling short stories and teaching high school. Then he sat down to write what was first a short story that turned into a novella that turned into a novel. The novel was "Carrie," the story of a bullied teenage girl with telekinesis. The book wasn't a blockbuster when it was published in hardcover, but by the time it hit paperback, it flew off the shelves and King was on his way to becoming one of the best-selling novelists of all time. Sure enough, Hollywood came calling. The book was published in 1974, and by 1976, Brian De Palma's dreamy film adaptation arrived in theaters, starring Sissy Spacek as poor, doomed Carrie White, a girl who is tormented by pretty much everyone, including her Bible-loving mother (played by Piper Laurie) and her classmates.
- 5/12/2024
- by Chris Evangelista
- Slash Film
Voltage Pictures launches Cannes sales this week on the motor racing drama Faster, which is currently shooting in France.
Radar Films’ Clément Miserez and Matthieu Wart are producing the project, which is called Rapide in France, where Universal has targeted a February 2025 theatrical release.
Morgan S. Dalibert, whose credits include Aka, directs the story starring French influencer Paola Locatelli from Netflix’s Dangerous Liaisons as Max, a speed freak who loves karting and dreams of winning the Formula 1 championship.
Conquering every junior competition, at the age of 17 she realises the professional racing world remains a fortress, reluctant to welcome a...
Radar Films’ Clément Miserez and Matthieu Wart are producing the project, which is called Rapide in France, where Universal has targeted a February 2025 theatrical release.
Morgan S. Dalibert, whose credits include Aka, directs the story starring French influencer Paola Locatelli from Netflix’s Dangerous Liaisons as Max, a speed freak who loves karting and dreams of winning the Formula 1 championship.
Conquering every junior competition, at the age of 17 she realises the professional racing world remains a fortress, reluctant to welcome a...
- 5/12/2024
- ScreenDaily
The new "Doctor Who" season's second installment, "The Devil's Chord," is the closest the show's come to a proper musical episode. Sure, there was that brief musical number in the latest Christmas episode, and that one song-based resolution in season 7, but we've never seen the show embrace the music quite like this one. There are multiple original numbers, including a battle where the villain's using floating notations like a cowboy swinging a lasso around. It's fun when "Doctor Who" goes full weird, and this episode is an exciting promise of more musical weirdness to come.
But judging the episode by proper musical standards, how does it hold up? Well, not great. There's the problem that "There's Always a Twist At the End" is the only genuine catchy banger in the bunch, but more importantly, we never really got to hear the Doctor and Ruby sing about anything that matters. Sure,...
But judging the episode by proper musical standards, how does it hold up? Well, not great. There's the problem that "There's Always a Twist At the End" is the only genuine catchy banger in the bunch, but more importantly, we never really got to hear the Doctor and Ruby sing about anything that matters. Sure,...
- 5/12/2024
- by Michael Boyle
- Slash Film
Steven Spielberg's filmmaking techniques took a large bound forward in 2001 with the release of "A.I. Artificial Intelligence." The sci-fi film, set in a near future populated by conscious androids, was a project Spielberg took over from an ailing Stanley Kubrick, who passed on it when he felt Spielberg could do it better. In "A.I.," Spielberg's photography and editing were very different from the slick, adventure films and glossy prestige pictures he had become popular making. Now everything was hazy, staid, more deliberate.
Although he had already won three Oscars (two for "Schindler's List" and one for "Saving Private Ryan") and was widely considered to be a reigning master of Hollywood's blockbuster class, Spielberg evolved. After 2001, Spielberg's career bifurcated into dispassionate effects-based thrillers wherein the filmmaker was merely experimenting, and deeply passionate political thrillers that used the politics of the past to reflect on issues of the day.
The official...
Although he had already won three Oscars (two for "Schindler's List" and one for "Saving Private Ryan") and was widely considered to be a reigning master of Hollywood's blockbuster class, Spielberg evolved. After 2001, Spielberg's career bifurcated into dispassionate effects-based thrillers wherein the filmmaker was merely experimenting, and deeply passionate political thrillers that used the politics of the past to reflect on issues of the day.
The official...
- 5/12/2024
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Nowadays, when people hear the name Justin Lin, they think big-time Hollywood director with installments in both the “Star Trek” reboot film series and the “Fast & Furious” franchise. But back in 2002, he was just an indie filmmaker with one little-known feature under his belt and not much credit to his name. That all changed with one film, his 2002 Sundance breakout, “Better Luck Tomorrow,” which he also edited, co-wrote, and co-produced with the help of Mr. “Can’t Touch This” himself, Mc Hammer. The film chronicles a group of young Asians in America who start as overachievers but quickly turn to a life of crime and violence. Though not based on a real story, Lin was influenced by the violence he saw in his 20s, such as the Columbine shootings and more directly the murder of Stuart Tay.
Speaking in a retrospective interview on the film with IGN, Lin said of the film’s success,...
Speaking in a retrospective interview on the film with IGN, Lin said of the film’s success,...
- 5/12/2024
- by Harrison Richlin
- Indiewire
Ross Matthews wasn’t three words into his opening monologue at the 35th annual GLAAD Awards in New York City Saturday evening when a protester stood up from the audience to shout, “GLAAD is complicit in genocide.” The lone pro-Palestine advocate, blanketed by a wide-eyed room who let out a few jeers — “Who are you, you weirdo?” one donor shouted — was slowly, if not ceremoniously escorted from the room before she gave a final jab: “And so are all of you.”
“Thank you for your free speech. I’m so glad you have freedom,” Matthews, the evening’s host, said from the stage in an awkward attempt to recognize the protester. “Well, that was uncomfy for all of us, but we have to fight for everyone’s rights. Thank you for my opener,” he moved on, back on his feet.
And so set the tone for the evening. Each year in a star-studded ceremony,...
“Thank you for your free speech. I’m so glad you have freedom,” Matthews, the evening’s host, said from the stage in an awkward attempt to recognize the protester. “Well, that was uncomfy for all of us, but we have to fight for everyone’s rights. Thank you for my opener,” he moved on, back on his feet.
And so set the tone for the evening. Each year in a star-studded ceremony,...
- 5/12/2024
- by Michael Appler
- Variety - Film News
Lucy Liu was honored with the Legend award at the third annual Gold House Gold Gala on Saturday in Los Angeles.
Liu delivered a passionate speech after accepting the award from Regina King. “What I love about Regina is that she always makes choices that are for her,” Liu told the audience. “When I started over 30 years ago, there weren’t a lot of choices that I could make for myself.”
Liu — whose credits include “Ally McBeal,” “Elementary,” “Kill Bill Vol. 1,” “Charlie’s Angels” and Steven Soderbergh’s “Presence” — talked about having to make casting decisions “because of limitations.” She said, “I love that we are all here tonight because there is no ceiling, and I’ve never seen that for myself. I want us to all collectively understand how special this moment is that we are together as a community. I share this award with you because you have lifted me up,...
Liu delivered a passionate speech after accepting the award from Regina King. “What I love about Regina is that she always makes choices that are for her,” Liu told the audience. “When I started over 30 years ago, there weren’t a lot of choices that I could make for myself.”
Liu — whose credits include “Ally McBeal,” “Elementary,” “Kill Bill Vol. 1,” “Charlie’s Angels” and Steven Soderbergh’s “Presence” — talked about having to make casting decisions “because of limitations.” She said, “I love that we are all here tonight because there is no ceiling, and I’ve never seen that for myself. I want us to all collectively understand how special this moment is that we are together as a community. I share this award with you because you have lifted me up,...
- 5/12/2024
- by Jazz Tangcay
- Variety - Film News
“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” (Disney) opened to $56.5 million, slightly above pre-opening projections, which is encouraging after “The Fall Guy” (Universal) last week. That’s a relief to theaters that hope summer releases meet their potential and buffer what is expected to be a major drop in revenues versus last year.
20th Century Fox released “Planet of the Apes” in 1968. For an old franchise, this is one that still has plenty of life: The “Kingdom” opening matched the last “Apes” installment in 2017 (albeit when tickets cost 15 percent less). Speaking of old franchises, it also beat the $55 million opening of the 2021 Bond entry “No Time to Die.” Disappointing B Cinemascore aside, “Kingdom” seems poised for a solid run.
The opening for “Kingdom” doubled that of “The Fall Guy;” that differential happens to reflect the difference in the films’ production budgets. “Apes” took in an initial $129 million worldwide. “The Fall Guy...
20th Century Fox released “Planet of the Apes” in 1968. For an old franchise, this is one that still has plenty of life: The “Kingdom” opening matched the last “Apes” installment in 2017 (albeit when tickets cost 15 percent less). Speaking of old franchises, it also beat the $55 million opening of the 2021 Bond entry “No Time to Die.” Disappointing B Cinemascore aside, “Kingdom” seems poised for a solid run.
The opening for “Kingdom” doubled that of “The Fall Guy;” that differential happens to reflect the difference in the films’ production budgets. “Apes” took in an initial $129 million worldwide. “The Fall Guy...
- 5/12/2024
- by Tom Brueggemann
- Indiewire
The summer TV series is here, and some of it has already commenced. Yes, some of these shows have aired already, but given most of them will be playing throughout the next few months—given the binge model seems to be going away on most channels, networks, and streamers other than Netflix—it looks more than ok to join them mid-airing.
It should be said that summer previews are weird in that many streamers, networks, and cable channels do not reveal their entire lineups until maybe a month or two before release.
Continue reading Summer TV Preview: Over 35 Series Must-See Series To Watch at The Playlist.
It should be said that summer previews are weird in that many streamers, networks, and cable channels do not reveal their entire lineups until maybe a month or two before release.
Continue reading Summer TV Preview: Over 35 Series Must-See Series To Watch at The Playlist.
- 5/12/2024
- by Rodrigo Perez
- The Playlist
One of the best running gags in "The Marvels" involves Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) and the search for a perfect superhero name. Despite a fair amount of enthusiasm from Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani), whose own alter ego was not-so-subtly inspired by her obsession with Captain Marvel (Brie Larson), Monica is seemingly uninterested in that particular hero perk. By the end of "The Marvels," she's still just Monica Rambeau — despite powering up in a major way, saving the universe from an errant wormhole, and ending up in an entirely new timeline.
Monica's arc across the Marvel Cinematic Universe is pretty different from her peers, but it largely works to her benefit. In the comics, Monica is a superhero who's burned through a number of superhero nicknames. She's been called Photon, Spectrum, and even Captain Marvel throughout her tenure on the page — and her ever-changing role in the comics seems to have...
Monica's arc across the Marvel Cinematic Universe is pretty different from her peers, but it largely works to her benefit. In the comics, Monica is a superhero who's burned through a number of superhero nicknames. She's been called Photon, Spectrum, and even Captain Marvel throughout her tenure on the page — and her ever-changing role in the comics seems to have...
- 5/12/2024
- by Lyvie Scott
- Slash Film
This post contains spoilers for "Blue Velvet."
David Lynch's cinematic world tiptoes between stark reality and nightmarish dreams, where quaint, perfect lives and locales often hide Boschian hells. While some Lynchian small towns are infused with poetic romanticism despite harboring great evils (such as Twin Peaks), others, like Lumberton, weave an insincere facade with its aura of suburban bliss: a sentiment that forms the crux of Lynch's sensational, oft-misunderstood "Blue Velvet." Most of Lynch's work defies objective analysis, as the foundational ideas he embeds into his stories feel abstract and elusive, but are always tethered to reality in essential and terrifying ways. Although "Blue Velvet" helms one of the most straightforward narratives in Lynch's oeuvre — it is neither as labyrinthine nor heady as "Inland Empire" or "Mulholland Drive" — the film's graphic depictions of psychosexual impulses tend to confuse and alienate, with the merging of the real and the...
David Lynch's cinematic world tiptoes between stark reality and nightmarish dreams, where quaint, perfect lives and locales often hide Boschian hells. While some Lynchian small towns are infused with poetic romanticism despite harboring great evils (such as Twin Peaks), others, like Lumberton, weave an insincere facade with its aura of suburban bliss: a sentiment that forms the crux of Lynch's sensational, oft-misunderstood "Blue Velvet." Most of Lynch's work defies objective analysis, as the foundational ideas he embeds into his stories feel abstract and elusive, but are always tethered to reality in essential and terrifying ways. Although "Blue Velvet" helms one of the most straightforward narratives in Lynch's oeuvre — it is neither as labyrinthine nor heady as "Inland Empire" or "Mulholland Drive" — the film's graphic depictions of psychosexual impulses tend to confuse and alienate, with the merging of the real and the...
- 5/12/2024
- by Debopriyaa Dutta
- Slash Film
The wasteland can be a brutal place. Diegetically within the world of George Miller’s “Mad Max” film series and physically for the actors who have to inhabit it. Speaking with Variety for an interview on her upcoming role in “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,” star of the much-hyped prequel Anya Taylor-Joy discussed the challenges of taking on this role and how leaning into it was the only way through it.
“I had the earliest call time of my life: 1:45 a.m.,” Taylor-Joy said. “I’d be like, ‘I just wrapped! What do you mean?! It’s a mistake!’”
Part of that early call time involved Taylor-Joy getting into makeup, a process that required she be covered head-to-toe in the sand and sweat of Miller’s world.
“You will not believe how dirty I had to be for it to read on camera,” she said to Variety. “The first...
“I had the earliest call time of my life: 1:45 a.m.,” Taylor-Joy said. “I’d be like, ‘I just wrapped! What do you mean?! It’s a mistake!’”
Part of that early call time involved Taylor-Joy getting into makeup, a process that required she be covered head-to-toe in the sand and sweat of Miller’s world.
“You will not believe how dirty I had to be for it to read on camera,” she said to Variety. “The first...
- 5/12/2024
- by Harrison Richlin
- Indiewire
Roger Corman, who died Saturday at 98, was famously involved with many of the greats of filmmaking at the start of their careers. In the case of Ron Howard, he helped the young actor transition from being a child star into a versatile director, giving him his first directing job with the action comedy “Grand Theft Auto” in 1977.
Howard noted that Corman was also known for giving women more opportunities than they typically had in the film industry at that time, including Penelope Spheeris and Gale Ann Hurd.
Howard paid tribute to Corman Sunday morning in a heartfelt message, writing, “Roger not only mentored a couple of generations of high profile filmmakers, but he also opened doors to many on the production side who were struggling to find career paths in the industry. When I was working for Roger, he had far more women in positions of authority throughout his company...
Howard noted that Corman was also known for giving women more opportunities than they typically had in the film industry at that time, including Penelope Spheeris and Gale Ann Hurd.
Howard paid tribute to Corman Sunday morning in a heartfelt message, writing, “Roger not only mentored a couple of generations of high profile filmmakers, but he also opened doors to many on the production side who were struggling to find career paths in the industry. When I was working for Roger, he had far more women in positions of authority throughout his company...
- 5/12/2024
- by Pat Saperstein
- Variety - Film News
In the "Star Trek" episode "The Deadly Years", an away team beams down to the planet Gamma Hydra IV to investigate a seemingly disused research station. They find several people who have died of old age and a 60-something couple who claim to be in their 20s. The away team returns to the Enterprise, not knowing they have contracted a kind of radiation sickness that causes accelerated aging. Kirk (William Shatner) begins going gray, while Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley) and Scotty (James Doohan) quickly develop wrinkled, craggy faces. Hit hardest is Lieutenant Galway (Beverly Washburn), a science officer not previously seen on the show. She ages the most rapidly, moving from her early 20s to her late 90s in a day. Before the end of the episode, Galway will have died of old age.
Washburn was interviewed by StarTrek.com back in 2013, and she remembered shooting "The Deadly Years" quite well.
Washburn was interviewed by StarTrek.com back in 2013, and she remembered shooting "The Deadly Years" quite well.
- 5/12/2024
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
For her third round of hosting duties on “Saturday Night Live,” “Mother” Maya Rudolph did not disappoint. Having been a cast member from 2000 to 2007, Rudolph is well acquainted with that 30 Rock stage, and has played a litany of memorable characters. In honor of Mother’s Day, current “SNL” cast-mates Sarah Sherman and Bowen Yang joined Rudolph onstage to honor her legacy and declare her a true “Moth-errr”.
“You’re a 30 Rock legend,” Sherman said. “You’ve had your foot on our necks since Y2K.”
Rudolph was disbelieving of this praise at first, but Yang quickly interjected to second Sherman’s claim.
“You were the first to slay the house down boots queen!” he exclaimed to Rudolph.
“You have achieved extra-terrestrial mother status!” said Sherman.
“Me? Mother?” questioned Rudolph. “You’re right.”
Cue a pumpin’ beat and Kenan Thompson in a Law Roach-inspired wig, holding a tiny purse in one...
“You’re a 30 Rock legend,” Sherman said. “You’ve had your foot on our necks since Y2K.”
Rudolph was disbelieving of this praise at first, but Yang quickly interjected to second Sherman’s claim.
“You were the first to slay the house down boots queen!” he exclaimed to Rudolph.
“You have achieved extra-terrestrial mother status!” said Sherman.
“Me? Mother?” questioned Rudolph. “You’re right.”
Cue a pumpin’ beat and Kenan Thompson in a Law Roach-inspired wig, holding a tiny purse in one...
- 5/12/2024
- by Harrison Richlin
- Indiewire
Browse Screen’s Qumra special edition, which looks back on the 2024 edition of the Doha Film Institute’s (Dfi) incubator event that took place from March 1-6.
The issue profiles the event’s six masterclasses delivered by the likes of Toni Collette, Jim Sheridan and Claire Denis, and rounds up the festival hits supported by the Dfi.
Click here to read the digital edition...
The issue profiles the event’s six masterclasses delivered by the likes of Toni Collette, Jim Sheridan and Claire Denis, and rounds up the festival hits supported by the Dfi.
Click here to read the digital edition...
- 5/12/2024
- ScreenDaily
In Jon Favreau's 2008 superhero film "Iron Man," Tony Stark spends a large portion of the movie inventing and building a high-tech, skintight suit of armor that is equipped with rocket boosters, missiles, and automated servos that increase Tony's physical strength. In order to put the suit on, Tony required an additional, assembly-line-like machine that sealed the various pieces of the armor around his body.
In the many "Iron Man" sequels that followed, however, the process of getting in and out of the suit became quicker and more streamlined. In one film, Tony thrusts his fists into a briefcase, and his suit stretches and assembles around him. Later, the "assembly line" process is so swift that Tony can remove his suit without having to stop walking. Eventually -- and perhaps boringly -- the suit became a sort of liquid metal like in "Terminator 2," shlorping around Tony almost instantly.
In...
In the many "Iron Man" sequels that followed, however, the process of getting in and out of the suit became quicker and more streamlined. In one film, Tony thrusts his fists into a briefcase, and his suit stretches and assembles around him. Later, the "assembly line" process is so swift that Tony can remove his suit without having to stop walking. Eventually -- and perhaps boringly -- the suit became a sort of liquid metal like in "Terminator 2," shlorping around Tony almost instantly.
In...
- 5/12/2024
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Primates ruled over the North American box office, as “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” collected $56.5 million in its first weekend of release.
Those ticket sales were a hair above early projections of $50 million to $55 million and were easily enough to tower over the nonexistent competition. “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” opened roughly even with two of the three prior installments in the rebooted franchise, landing behind only 2014’s “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” (a series-best $72 million) and ahead of 2017’s “War for the Planet of the Apes” ($56.2 million) and 2011’s “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” ($54.8 million).
“The weekend figure is roughly average for the genre, but average here is based on the biggest action films of all time,” says David A. Gross of movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research. “This is an excellent opening.”
An opening that’s in line with projections is great and all,...
Those ticket sales were a hair above early projections of $50 million to $55 million and were easily enough to tower over the nonexistent competition. “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” opened roughly even with two of the three prior installments in the rebooted franchise, landing behind only 2014’s “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” (a series-best $72 million) and ahead of 2017’s “War for the Planet of the Apes” ($56.2 million) and 2011’s “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” ($54.8 million).
“The weekend figure is roughly average for the genre, but average here is based on the biggest action films of all time,” says David A. Gross of movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research. “This is an excellent opening.”
An opening that’s in line with projections is great and all,...
- 5/12/2024
- by Rebecca Rubin
- Variety - Film News
A handsome American ends up stranded on an alien ship, manned by an unusual alien crew, where he falls in love with its resident warrior woman. It's not "Guardians of the Galaxy," it's "Farscape," the Australian-American sci-fi series! The series was created by Rockne S. O'Bannon and Brian Henson with alien designs courtesy of the Jim Henson Company, including several puppets that served as central characters. "Farscape" is funny, campy, and weird as hell, setting it apart from not only its television contemporaries but all other sci-fi shows. "Farscape" ran for four seasons from 1999-2003, and while it wasn't as popular as some of the other big sci-fi shows, it has a devoted cult following that really loves it.
In a retrospective for the show's 25th anniversary at IGN, Henson shared his inspiration for the show and what he and O'Bannon were trying to do with "Farscape." With its wacky...
In a retrospective for the show's 25th anniversary at IGN, Henson shared his inspiration for the show and what he and O'Bannon were trying to do with "Farscape." With its wacky...
- 5/12/2024
- by Danielle Ryan
- Slash Film
There’s a story Alfred Hitchcock always liked to tell about how, when he was five years old, his father dropped him off at the local police station near his home in East London. William Hitchcock left a note for the coppers explaining that his son had been misbehaving. A policeman locked young Alfred in a cell for a few minutes and explained, “This is what we do to naughty boys.”
When Hitchcock recounted that story to Dick Cavett he was in his 70s, but the incident continued to leave a profound mark on the director. He said he was still “terrified of the police” because of that and drew a connection from that to the feelings of guilt and wrong-men-on-the-run paranoia that seeps into so many of his films.
The funny thing is, though, father characters are almost entirely absent from Hitchcock’s work. There are a few: Cedric Hardwicke...
When Hitchcock recounted that story to Dick Cavett he was in his 70s, but the incident continued to leave a profound mark on the director. He said he was still “terrified of the police” because of that and drew a connection from that to the feelings of guilt and wrong-men-on-the-run paranoia that seeps into so many of his films.
The funny thing is, though, father characters are almost entirely absent from Hitchcock’s work. There are a few: Cedric Hardwicke...
- 5/12/2024
- by Christian Blauvelt
- Indiewire
Roger Corman, the B-movie legend who helped launch the careers of Martin Scorsese, James Cameron, and Francis Ford Coppola, among many others, has passed away at the age of 98. His family told Variety that he died on Thursday, May 9, at his home in Santa Monica, surrounded by his loved ones. The family also released this statement:
"His films were revolutionary and iconoclastic, and captured the spirit of an age. When asked how he would like to be remembered, he said, 'I was a filmmaker, just that.'"
It's no exaggeration to say that Hollywood wouldn't be the same without Roger Corman. In a career that spanned half a century and hundreds of films, he directed and/or produced B-movie hits and cult classics like "House of Usher," "The Little Shop of Horrors," "Death Race 2000," and "Attack of the Crab Monsters" (not to mention a famously unreleased "Fantastic Four" movie...
"His films were revolutionary and iconoclastic, and captured the spirit of an age. When asked how he would like to be remembered, he said, 'I was a filmmaker, just that.'"
It's no exaggeration to say that Hollywood wouldn't be the same without Roger Corman. In a career that spanned half a century and hundreds of films, he directed and/or produced B-movie hits and cult classics like "House of Usher," "The Little Shop of Horrors," "Death Race 2000," and "Attack of the Crab Monsters" (not to mention a famously unreleased "Fantastic Four" movie...
- 5/12/2024
- by Hannah Shaw-Williams
- Slash Film
Serialized storylines are, naturally, tricky for shows that are, by design, inherently episodic. When "House" devoted a large chunk of its third season to the relentless Detective Michael Tritter (David Morse) trying to get back at Hugh Laurie's misanthropic diagnostician for humiliating him, the series' writers were banking on viewers not losing interest before the pair's conflict had concluded. As one of those viewers, let me tell you: It's a good thing they didn't push their luck any further than they did, even if pitting House against a cop was about as effective a way as any to get us to overlook the former's many, many blatantly unethical indiscretions and root for him to outwit this wannabe Moriarty to his Sherlock.
"Bones," like "House," was primarily episodic, with its namesake, Dr. Temperance Brennan (Emily Deschanel), and her other half, FBI agent Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz), typically wrapping up a...
"Bones," like "House," was primarily episodic, with its namesake, Dr. Temperance Brennan (Emily Deschanel), and her other half, FBI agent Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz), typically wrapping up a...
- 5/12/2024
- by Sandy Schaefer
- Slash Film
"Star Wars" has one of the biggest worlds in fiction, a vast universe with extensive mythology, a sense of history, locations that feel tangible, and characters that come across as real, living beings.
This last bit is important, because "Star Wars" has given plenty of memorable characters, where even small players can turn out to have galaxy-changing importance. Then there are the villains, of which "Star Wars" has plenty, including some of the most memorable villains in cinema history, with their own stories worth exploring.
But while we all know the menacing man-turned-machine Darth Vader or the devil-looking Maul, are they really the worst villains in the franchise? As "Star Wars" has evolved and grown over the years, its villains have become less flashy and more, well, evil. That's why we're ranking the most evil and villainous characters in George Lucas' galaxy far, far away. As a note, this list...
This last bit is important, because "Star Wars" has given plenty of memorable characters, where even small players can turn out to have galaxy-changing importance. Then there are the villains, of which "Star Wars" has plenty, including some of the most memorable villains in cinema history, with their own stories worth exploring.
But while we all know the menacing man-turned-machine Darth Vader or the devil-looking Maul, are they really the worst villains in the franchise? As "Star Wars" has evolved and grown over the years, its villains have become less flashy and more, well, evil. That's why we're ranking the most evil and villainous characters in George Lucas' galaxy far, far away. As a note, this list...
- 5/12/2024
- by Rafael Motamayor
- Slash Film
From cancelled celebrity frogs to heartbroken shrimp, the vast “Smiling Friends” universe is home to a lot of strange side characters. But co-creators Michael Cusack and Zach Hadel took things to another level for the Season 2 premiere of their Adult Swim series. The episode, which sports the concise title “Gwimbly: Definitive Remastered Enhanced Extended Edition Dx 4K (Anniversary Director’s Cut),” follows the eponymous Smiling Friends as they attempt to cheer up Gwimbly, a beloved ’90s video game character who is unable to star in new games because the evil corporation known as Insane Groundbreaking Games refuses to grant him access to his own I.P.
The episode, which was previewed for fans last month after the network’s puppet-filled April Fool’s prank, is a classic “Smiling Friends” adventure that sees the gang rescue Gwimbly from his sad life of making undignified Cameo videos and help him produce his own independent game.
The episode, which was previewed for fans last month after the network’s puppet-filled April Fool’s prank, is a classic “Smiling Friends” adventure that sees the gang rescue Gwimbly from his sad life of making undignified Cameo videos and help him produce his own independent game.
- 5/12/2024
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
In the original "Star Trek," only three actors were credited at the start of the show: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, and DeForest Kelley. For many watching the series -- and for the actors especially -- those three were the leads, while the rest of the recurring ensemble were mere supporting players. Shatner, Nimoy, and Kelley certainly had the most screen time on "Star Trek," yet they often advocated for more. Eventually, Shatner and Nimoy became such whiny spotlight hogs that show creator Gene Roddenberry had to write an angry letter, demanding the actors stop whining and get back to work.
Trekkies, however, knew better than Shatner and Nimoy. "Star Trek" was always an ensemble piece about a core cast of multiple characters. In addition to the three "leads," the show also regularly featured chief engineer Scott/Scotty (James Doohan), communications officer Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), Ensign Chekov (Walter Koenig), Yeoman Rand...
Trekkies, however, knew better than Shatner and Nimoy. "Star Trek" was always an ensemble piece about a core cast of multiple characters. In addition to the three "leads," the show also regularly featured chief engineer Scott/Scotty (James Doohan), communications officer Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), Ensign Chekov (Walter Koenig), Yeoman Rand...
- 5/12/2024
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Even if you weren't that big a fan of the bleak blockbuster that was "Dune: Part Two" or the equally bleak whisper-shout fest that was its 2021 predecessor "Dune," you've got to admire the artistry involved. If you take even a brief look at the effort that went into it, conceiving and creating the planet Arrakis was nothing short of an ordeal. Director Denis Villeneuve wasn't going to let "Dune" or its sequel become yet another generic CGI-laden blockbuster affair. Instead, he wanted to convey a real sense of texture and reality, even while bringing to life such fantastical source matter as Frank Herbert's 1965 novel.
There's a reason the visual effects team won an Oscar for the first "Dune." Not only did they manage to convincingly create scale, but they also managed to achieve Villeneuve's aim of making the film feel authentic despite the sheer amount of digital and practical effects work involved.
There's a reason the visual effects team won an Oscar for the first "Dune." Not only did they manage to convincingly create scale, but they also managed to achieve Villeneuve's aim of making the film feel authentic despite the sheer amount of digital and practical effects work involved.
- 5/12/2024
- by Joe Roberts
- Slash Film
Marvel hasn't been having the best time of late and the shaky attempt to recapture lightning in a bottle that was "Thor: Love and Thunder" is a good example. Whereas its predecessor, "Thor: Ragnarok," saw star Chris Hemsworth leaning into his comedic sensibilities to great effect, even Hemsworth himself agreed that "Love and Thunder" was just too silly. But when the God of Thunder made his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut all the way back in 2011, the opposite was true.
Whereas "Iron Man," the film that changed Hollywood forever by kicking off the massively popular interconnected universe, was led by Robert Downey Jr. and his magnetic charisma, 2011's "Thor" was a darker affair that embraced the character's origins and delivered what was essentially a fantasy adventure with relative unknowns in the lead roles of Thor and Loki. In the late-aughts, Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston did not enjoy the superstar status they do today,...
Whereas "Iron Man," the film that changed Hollywood forever by kicking off the massively popular interconnected universe, was led by Robert Downey Jr. and his magnetic charisma, 2011's "Thor" was a darker affair that embraced the character's origins and delivered what was essentially a fantasy adventure with relative unknowns in the lead roles of Thor and Loki. In the late-aughts, Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston did not enjoy the superstar status they do today,...
- 5/12/2024
- by Joe Roberts
- Slash Film
Roger Corman, a pioneer of low-cost independent filmmaking and the godfather of B-movies who produced hundreds of genre films in a career spanning eight decades, has died. He was 98.
During a prolific career that started in the 1950s and encompassed all genre, Corman directed the 1960 original The Little Shop Of Horrors – reportedly shot in two days – as well as The Man With The X-Ray Eyes, The Trip, The Wasp Woman, The Masque Of The Red Death, House Of Usher, and The Raven – the last three counting among a number of Edgar Allan Poe adaptations.
Dubbed ’the Pope of Pop Cinema...
During a prolific career that started in the 1950s and encompassed all genre, Corman directed the 1960 original The Little Shop Of Horrors – reportedly shot in two days – as well as The Man With The X-Ray Eyes, The Trip, The Wasp Woman, The Masque Of The Red Death, House Of Usher, and The Raven – the last three counting among a number of Edgar Allan Poe adaptations.
Dubbed ’the Pope of Pop Cinema...
- 5/12/2024
- ScreenDaily
Although never named in any entries of the franchise, the deadly aliens in the "Predator" series are a species called the Yautja (pronounced "Yah-oot-Cha"). The films themselves do little to explain where they come from and what their civilization might be like. What little we know is based on seeing a few of them as intergalactic big-game trophy hunters, but is this true of their entire society? Is their civilization centered around the hunt? Or are the Predators we've seen pariahs, the Yautja equivalent to big-game trophy hunters like Walter Palmer, widely criticized for his participation in the controversial killing of both Cecil the lion and a protected ram in Mongolia?
In 2010's "Predators," Royce (Adrien Brody) quotes Hemingway, "Certainly there is no hunting like the hunting of man and those who have hunted armed men long enough and liked it, never really care for anything else thereafter." Like us,...
In 2010's "Predators," Royce (Adrien Brody) quotes Hemingway, "Certainly there is no hunting like the hunting of man and those who have hunted armed men long enough and liked it, never really care for anything else thereafter." Like us,...
- 5/12/2024
- by Maurice Molyneaux
- Slash Film
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