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Stars: Meghann Fahy, Brandon Sklenar, Violett Beane, Jacob Robinson, Ed Weeks, Jeffery Self, Gabrielle Ryan, Reed Diamond | Written by Jillian Jacobs, Chris Roach | Directed by Christopher Landon

Director Christopher Landon returns with high-concept suspense thriller Drop, which cleverly combines the anxiety of a first date with the type of unseen assailant threat familiar from films like Phone Booth, Grand Piano and the more recent Carry On. As such, it’s hugely enjoyable, and the sort of movie where the ridiculous contrivance is a big part of the fun.

After a tense prologue, which isn’t explained until later and could either be a flashback or a flash-forward, Drop opens with single mother Violet nervously preparing for a first date, encouraged by her younger sister Jen (Violett Beane), who will be babysitting Violet’s 5 year-old son Toby (Jacob Robinson) for the evening. Already anxious because this is her first date since...

The only thing more stressful than having the jitters before a special occasion is having an outside party intensify that wave of anxiety tenfold under the threat of death. In Christoper Landon's superb new thriller "Drop," which /Film's Ryan Scott lauded as a lean, crowd-pleasing ride in his review, Meghann Fahy plays a single mother who finds herself on the first date from hell when she starts receiving a series of threatening airdrop messages. Should she not follow the mysterious figure's specific instructions to kill her date, then her son will die, as will anyone she attempts to warn in the process.

Landon makes the leap from horror-comedy to high tension thriller with ease here, creating a gripping sense of paranoia as our main character grapples with the terrible predicament she's found herself in. You'll see a lot of folks comparing "Drop" to Wes Craven's "Red Eye," and they're not wrong.

Do you enjoy your date night movies with a side of thrills and drenched in fun-loving ambitions? That's Christopher Landon's romantic thriller Drop, about a dangerously awry first meetup. Meghann Fahy and Brandon Sklenar star in the impromptu assassination plot over dinner, which feels 90s coded in its entertaining abandon. Writers Jillian Jacobs and Chris Roach channel Wes Craven's Red Eye, Eugenio Mira's Grand Piano, and Joel Schumacher's Phone Booth. I had the pleasure of attending Drop's world premiere at this year's SXSW film festival, where it put a big ol' movie-loving smile on my face (here's the review to prove it).

A few short weeks later, I found myself in New Orleans at the Overlook Film Festival, eating po' boys and devouring horror movies. Drop brought the house down based on post-screening buzz—I didn't snag a ticket out of respect to other badge...

The art of the "crowd pleaser" is alive and well in Christopher Landon's noose-tight Drop. Writers Jillian Jacobs and Chris Roach pen a clever blend of technological paranoia and first-date anxieties in a one-location pressure cooker. The vibe is deliciously tense: think Grand Piano or Red Eye. Alfred Hitchcock is smiling on Down, and with good reason—it's tight, intense, and pure popcorn entertainment. Landon's latest is why we go to the movies: adrenaline-fueled escapism.

Meghann Fahy stars as Violet, a single Chicagoian mother with a traumatic past. After chatting with Brandon Sklenar's bachelor (Henry) via a dating app for a few months, she finally agrees to an in-person date. After some wardrobe advice from "Auntie" Jen (Violett Beane), she's ready to leave her son Toby (Jacob Robinson) and heads to Palate—a swanky 38th-floor fine dining establishment. After a few minutes at the bar, Henry arrives,...

A silly, pulpy mystery entirely sure of its own conceit, “Drop” combines tech paranoia and the looming specter of abuse to create something surprisingly taut and entertaining. Directed by Christopher Landon — best known for his involvement in the “Happy Death Day” and “Paranormal Activity” movies — the film’s complicated setups are executed with a deft and capable hand. Although set in a fine dining establishment, it’s a junk-food thriller fried to near-perfection, balancing the tensions of kidnapping, conspiracy and murder with those of a nerve-wracking first date. It’s crisp and delicious.

After a hair-raising prologue involving a couple pointing guns at one another (a scene whose purpose clicks into place much later), “Drop” gently introduces its protagonist, widowed mother Violet (Meghann Fahy), as she prepares for her first date with Henry (Brandon Sklenar), a handsome photographer she’s been speaking to online. Her snarky, supportive sister Jen (Violett Beane...

Actor J.K. Simmons described the script for his Whiplash character as a "life-altering experience." That film's director also recalled the moment he knew Simmons was perfect for the part.

J.K. Simmons recounted his first impressions of Whiplash's screenplay and its writer-director Damien Chazelle. Speaking with IndieWire during the film's TIFF re-release, the actor gushed over the script and asserted he was destined to play its villain. "I read the feature, and it was one of those life-altering experiences of just encountering not only sheer brilliance on the page, but a character that every single move he made, every word out of his mouth, was just like I was assimilating organically," he recalled. "It's hard not to sound narcissistic and egomaniacal which I am, because I'm an actor. It was just one of those rare parts. I thought, 'I'm the guy for this part. I am the guy for this part.

Hell yeah! HBO and Max’s new releases for July include the two-episode debut of Harley Quinn spinoff series Kite Man: Hell Yeah! (July 18) that follows the titular villain and his girlfriend the Golden Glider as they take their relationship to the next logical step – opening a bar for supervillains together. Hilarious hijinks are bound to ensue as Gotham’s hottest new bar takes off.

Football fans will get to follow the New York Giants in this season of Hard Knocks: Offseason starting July 2. This non-scripted series will follow the team as they prepare for their highly anticipated 100th season.

Notable movie releases this month include Love Lies Bleeding (July 19), the Katy O’Brian and Kristen Stewart-starring feature about the love affair between a reclusive gym owner Lou (Stewart) and bodybuilder Jackie (O’Brian). Anyone wanting to rewatch the original Twister before its sequel premieres in theaters this month are in luck,...

Chazelle fears future film budgets post-Babylon flop. Babylon's ambitious storytelling divides critics, risks trust in director. Chazelle should stick to smaller projects while proving box office potential.

Director Damien Chazelle revealed his 2022 flop Babylon has now given him fear regarding the budgets his future films might get, but it would still be a major shame if studios didn’t trust him with bigger projects. Damien Chazelle’s career has been defined by narratives of control. Both his 2009 debut Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench and 2016’s La La Land were bittersweet musicals about couples whose inability to control their careers cost them dearly. Meanwhile, 2013’s suspense thriller Grand Piano (which Chazelle wrote) and the following year’s Whiplash were both intense stories of musicians risking everything, including their lives, to master their art and play perfectly.

As such, it was ironic and almost inevitable that the ending...

Elijah Wood's role in Macon Blair's The Toxic Avenger remake is described as the most exciting of his recent career, featuring him as a grotesque villain named Fritz Garbinger. The Toxic Avenger remake is expected to be darker and more dramatic than the 1984 original, with a talented cast, higher budget, and a darker origin story. This remake has the potential to be a career highlight for Wood, allowing him to shine alongside powerful performer Peter Dinklage and potentially becoming his next big hit.

2023 seems to have been a good year for Elijah Wood, considering his appearances in some acclaimed shows like Yellowjackets and I’m A Virgo. But the year isn’t over yet for the Green Street and The Lord of the Rings star as he physically transforms into what seems like a compelling character for Macon Blair’s The Toxic Avenger remake. Marking his debut with a...

Elijah Wood, a renowned American actor, has captivated audiences with his versatile and impressive performances for over three decades. Born on January 28, 1981, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Wood’s career as an actor began at a young age. He has starred in numerous films and television series, most notably as Frodo Baggins in Peter Jackson’s blockbuster The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. This article delves into the life and career of this iconic actor, showcasing his incredible journey from child star to accomplished Hollywood actor.

Early Life and Childhood Elijah Wood. Depostiphotos

Elijah Jordan Wood was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, as the second of three children to Debbie Krause and Warren Wood. His parents managed a local delicatessen together. Wood’s ancestry includes English, German, Austrian, and Danish roots. As a child, Wood displayed a natural talent for performing, which led his mother to take him to the...

Elijah Wood may be having a bit of a moment with "Yellowjackets," but it's far from his only headline-grabbing role. Wood has been steadily working on our screens since the late 1980s, with a varied career that includes acting in TV and movies, doing voice work, producing and writing, and more.

While Wood definitely has become a permanent fixture in pop culture thanks to his role in "The Lord of the Rings," his career is much more eclectic and varied than just the blockbusters. He's the kind of actor who seems to delight in taking unusual and creative projects, with roles ranging from outright comedy and family-friendly hits to thrillers, dark dramas, and everything in between. Let's take a look back at some of his big-screen highlights over the years.

Elijah Wood Movies 1. "Back to the Future Part II"

Did you know that Wood's very first on-screen credit was in...

One of the most exciting parts of "Yellowjackets" season 2, which premiered on March 26, is the addition of Elijah Wood as Walter. Showtime (via Yahoo!) describes his character as "a dedicated Citizen Detective who will challenge Misty in ways she won't see coming." He has an equal passion for sleuthing and true crime, and he accompanies Misty on her investigation of Natalie's whereabouts after she was kidnapped by a mysterious group in season 1.

It is unclear if Walter and Misty will be romantic interests, but their playful interactions and quirky qualities will certainly bring some lightheartedness to the grim series. "The journey that we're on in this particular season is really funny. The show's dark and gnarly and a lot of what we got to do together was kind of like the comic relief," Elijah Wood explains in Entertainment Tonight. Part of the Christina Ricci and Elijah Wood's strong connection and...

A number of great movies are leaving HBO Max at the end of March, so it’s time to prioritize these titles in your queue. Filmmaker James Gunn’s sequel/soft reboot “The Suicide Squad” will depart the streaming service on March 22 after first hitting HBO Max the same day it was released in theaters back in 2021. Similarly, “Space Jam: A New Legacy” was whisked away on March 1 after also getting a day-and-date release in 2021 (sorry/not sorry if you missed it).

You also only have until March 7 to stream “Just a Boy From Tupelo: Bringing Elvis to the Big Screen,” a short documentary on the making of the Oscar-nominated biopic “Elvis.”

Other noteworthy films leaving HBO Max this month include “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford,” “Contagion,” the extended version of “Dances with Wolves,” “Ghostbusters,” “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” “Love & Basketball” and “Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping.

So many filmmakers have found their way into the industry through genre movies. Horror has long been the genre where you can always cobble together a bit of money together and make something people will watch, because there is a dedicated, loyal audience willing to shell out for just about anything, regardless of quality. The financial risk of a film becomes much lower if you've got some prurient thrills that genre fans can't help but ignore. Some filmmakers are thrilled to operate within that realm, delivering exactly what the audience wants, but some see it as a means to an end, as a way to get their foot in the door to make the things they actually have a passion for.

Looking at the directorial work of Academy Award winner Damien Chazelle, it's clear that horror isn't exactly what gets him going creatively. He loves to make movies about people obsessed with their jobs,...

Mario Casas, one of Spain’s biggest film and TV stars, and Goya Award winner actress Anna Castillo, will headline “Escape,” the new film by writer-director Rodrigo Cortés.

Produced by Adrián Guerra and Núria Valls at Barcelona-based Nostromo Pictures, “Escape” is a free adaptation of same-title novel penned by Spanish author Enrique Rubio.

Nostromo announced the new film project after completing an intense 2022, in which the company lensed seven films and released two more titles – Marçal Forés’ “Through My Window” and Oriol Paulo’s “God’s Crooked Lines” – both achieving a standout global reach.

“Escape’s” story turns on N., a young man who wants to live in prison and will do whatever it takes to get there, raising questions such as if those who care about him will get to stop him from committing increasingly serious crimes and how far will the judge go to not grant him his proposal.

Elijah Wood is joining “Yellowjackets” Season 2 in a season-long guest art, Showtime announced on Friday.

The “Lord of the Rings” star will play Walter, a dedicated citizen detective who “will challenge Misty (Christina Ricci) in ways she won’t see coming,” per a description from the network.

The series co-creators and co-showrunners, Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson, recently confirmed to TheWrap that — in the contemporary storyline— Misty’s true crime skills will be put to use trying to find Natalie (Juliette Lewis), who was abducted by persons unknown in the Season 1 finale.

Also Read:

‘Yellowjackets’ Season 2 Casts Simone Kessell as Adult Lottie

Lauren Ambrose of “Six Feet Under,” and Simone Kessell of “Obi-Wan Kenobi” were recently announced for series regular roles in Season 2, as adult Van and adult Lottie, respectively. Liv Hewson and Courtney Eaton, who play the teen versions of Van and Lottie, have also been upped to series regulars.

Streaming

HBO Max has revealed the first teaser for Max original “García!” (6 x 60′), which will have its world premiere at Austin’s Fantastic Fest in September and European premiere at Sitges.

Based on the graphic novel of the same name by Santiago García and Luis Bustos, the series is set in a present-day Spain, which is divided and on the brink of political chaos. It follows an inquisitive millennial investigative reporter Antonia (Veki Velilla) who stumbles on a decades-old conspiracy: the existence of a cryogenically frozen super-agent, García (Francisco Ortiz), created in a laboratory in the 1950s by General Franco’s fascist secret services. After sixty years in deep sleep, this perfect soldier with incredible physical strength, programmed to obey orders without question, is woken by Antonia. García finds himself disoriented and confused in a Spain that has changed beyond recognition. The old-world collides with the new as García and...

Popular British Crime Drama based on the crime novels of the same name, the show is based on the adventures of Hercule Poirot, the famous Belgian Detective. On his travels and visits to family and friends, Poirot comes across mysterious murders which he helps solve. The Police take his help in many cases to get […]

The post Envy, Blackmail and Murder rocks a picturesque English Village, Poirot Investigates appeared first on Shockya.com.

For the second feature film in the growing “Downton Abbey” universe, it’s quite literally a new era for the Granthams, thanks to the introduction of motion picture moviemaking on the grand estate itself. In director Simon Curtis’ “Downton Abbey: A New Era,” the family, led by Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery), opens the doors of the family home to a silent film production led by director Jack Barber (Hugh Dancy), in hopes of infusing the estate with some sizable cash. But trouble brews with the arrival of the talkies, leading to a cinema-centric plotline that might sound pretty familiar to fans of classic film.

The film’s screenwriter, series creator Julian Fellowes, told IndieWire that he wanted the film to feature significant shake-ups for the Downton residents and, considering that its events take place in 1928, it only made sense for film to be a focus. “I wanted very much to...

This article contains Peacemaker spoilers.

The Peacemaker finale had at least two more scenes that we’ve added to the long list of “I can’t believe they filmed that” shots this show pulled off. It also made a huge change in the status quo for the Dceu’s clandestine services.

After Peacemaker, Vigilante, and the gang successfully blew up the cow Without resorting to using the Scabies Helmet, Adebayo held a press conference to set the record straight. She counteracted the butterflies’ accusations against Peacemaker, and in the process exposed her mother, Amanda Waller, and the entire Task Force X operation to the entire world.

If you’re thinking “that probably won’t end well for the team,” you’re right! There’s some comics history to the Suicide Squad being outed, and none of it’s good.

Blackmail

Senator Joseph Cray was a real piece of work. The fake legislator,...

This article contains The Woman in the Window spoilers.

Joe Wright’s The Woman in the Window is not shy about its Hitchcockian influence. It’s there in both subtle and overt ways from the very first scene. During one of the film’s opening shots, the camera pans around Amy Adams’ ridiculously spacious New York City brownstone and passes a television screen that is inexplicably playing the ending to Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window (1954) in slow-motion, with Jimmy Stewart wrestling against the grip of an out-of-frame Raymond Burr.

With a very similar premise to Rear Window—a slightly deranged New Yorker pries into the hidden lives of her neighbors—The Woman in the Window freely owns up to its influences and aspirations. Sadly, Rear Window, this is not. Which may explain why 20th Century Studios (back when it was called 20th Century Fox) delayed the movie for reshoots, and...

David Tennant Joins Sky’s ‘The Amazing Maurice’

Former Doctor Who star David Tennant will join Hugh Laurie and Emilia Clarke in the cast of Sky’s The Amazing Maurice, an upcoming adaptation of Terry Pratchett’s best-selling children’s fantasy novel. It will mark the actor’s second turn in a Pratchett project, following on from his role as demon Crowley in 2019’s Good Omens from Amazon Studios. As well as Tennant, Sky confirmed additional cast for the project including Rob Brydon (Roald & Beatrix: The Tale of the Curious Mouse), Julie Atherton (Avenue Q), and YouTuber Joe Sugg. David Thewlis, Himesh Patel, Gemma Arterton and Hugh Bonneville also star. Story follows Maurice, a streetwise ginger cat who comes up with a money-making scam by befriending a group of self-taught talking rats. The con doesn’t go as planned when they meet a bookworm called Malicia. The project is co-produced by Sky,...

Filmmaker Anil Devgan, brother of actor Ajay Devgan, has passed away. The 52-year-old director succumbed to cancer.

Confirming the news, Ajay tweeted on Tuesday: "I lost my brother Anil Devgan last night. His untimely demise has left our family heartbroken. Adff and I will miss his presence dearly. Pray for his soul."

Ajay mentioned that his family will not hold a prayer meet. "Due to the pandemic, we will not have a personal prayer meet," he stated.

I lost my brother Anil Devgan last night. His untimely demise has left our family heartbroken. Adff & I will miss his presence dearly. Pray for his soul. Due to the pandemic, we will not have a personal prayer meet...

Nuria Valls

Valls already has 14 producer or exec-producer credits, including Eugenio Mira’s “Grand Piano,” Fernando González Molina’s Spanish blockbuster “Palm Trees in the Snow,” and Dan Krauss’ “The Kill Team;” all alongside her partner Adrián Guerra at Nostromo. Her latest productions include Alex and David Pastor’s “The Occupant” and Molina’s “Offering to the Storm,” both acquired by Netflix. Valls will shortly resume shooting on “Los favoritos de Midas,” created by Mateo Gil, her first TV series. “I’d like to do exactly what we’ve done so far: Making all kinds of movies we’d like to watch, not only genre.”

Oriol MAYMÓ

Maymó participated in the production of Rodrigo Cortés’ “Buried,” Marcel Barrena’s “Little World” and Pau Freixas’ TV-series “The Red Band Society” among many other titles. Now based out of Corte y Confección, he has produced Leticia Dolera’s Canneseries winner “A Perfect...

Hey everyone! The 15th annual Fantastic Fest kicks off this week, and this year, it’ll be myself, Heather Wixson, as well as Emily von Seele and Adrian Torres, who will be bringing you all kinds of coverage out of Austin for the duration of the festival. To celebrate Fantastic Fest’s momentous birthday this year, we have picked a few of our favorite films that have debuted over the years, and will be celebrating them as we lead up to the kickoff of Fantastic Fest on Thursday.

Enjoy!

Anna and the Apocalypse (Heather Wixson): When you talk about crowd-pleasing movies that are best enjoyed in a packed theater filled with genre enthusiasts, Anna and the Apocalypse is without a doubt the type of film that makes Fantastic Fest as much fun as it is. I know I’ve discussed my love of Anna ad nauseam over the last...

There’s another new streaming service making its way into the market. Magnolia Pictures announced Thursday that it has launched Magnolia Selects, an indie streaming platform boasting Magnolia’s library of independent films.

Magnolia has also launched three subscription-based movie channels that will air via Dish in the U.S. The channels, called “Warriors & Gangsters,” “Dox” and “Monsters & Nightmares,” are genre specific to action, documentaries and horror, respectively, and will provide a curated selection of movies within those genres.

Magnolia Selects launches at a price of $4.99 per month, and each standalone chanell will cost $2.99 per month via Dish’s On Demand Subscriptions and the Dish Anywhere app.

Also Read: IFC Films Launches Subscription VOD Streaming Service

“With Magnolia Selects’ latest expansion on Dish, our films have the ability to reach new audiences on more platforms than ever before,” Magnolia president Eamonn Bowles said in a statement. “We’re excited to...

Elijah Wood’s acting career has undergone a curious evolution in the years since the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy brought him to prominence. In tandem with the launch of production company SpectreVision, Wood has embraced his genre sensibilities with a range of horror, fantasy, and thriller projects made well beyond the studio arena.

The latest example, “Come to Daddy,” is the paragon of Wood’s sensibilities: The directorial debut of longtime genre producer Ant Timpson is the eerie look at a young man visiting his estranged father at a remote countryside home, where he discovers his hard-drinking pop might not be telling the full truth. From there, “Come to Daddy” careens into a bloody, slapstick thrill ride, equal parts “Evil Dead” and early Peter Jackson.

Wood met Timpson years ago on the genre festival circuit, and the pair worked together as co-producers on the wacky Sundance midnight sensation “The Greasy Strangler.

The stars of yesterday now are making three films a year you never knew existed until they show up on Netflix.^ Real Movie ^

In my prior life as a script reader, I certainly read a lot of bad scripts, but at times, an even more common occurrence was a script that seemed to do a great many things right, but somehow fell just short of being something you wanted to champion as a movie. As draining as the terrible scripts were, there’s something pure about clear-cut bad. It takes little effort to explain why they’re unfit.

The real challenges were the scripts that had kind of a decent premise, kind of an okay twist or two, and a lead character who wasn’t bad so much as he or she was just… there. The raw materials are there for what Could be a script. They just happen to be assembled in the least compelling way...

Since its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival last August, Damien Chazelle’s romantic musical “La La Land” has racked up critical and commercial acclaim. It’s grossed over $174 million against a $30 million budget, it won seven Golden Globes at this year’s ceremony (more than any other film in the award’s history) and just recently received 14 Oscar nominations.

Read More: Full 2017 Oscar Nominations List: ‘La La Land’ Ties All-Time Record With 14 Nominations

One of the film’s most enduring qualities are its numerous homages to other film musicals throughout history. Editor Sara Preciado created a “La La Land” video that features a side-by-side comparison of the film and its various tributes. As the video demonstrates, “La La Land” pays homage to films like “Singin’ in the Rain,” “The Young Girls of Rochefort,” “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg,” “West Side Story,” “Moulin Rouge!” and more. Watch the video below.

Looking back at director Damien Chazelle’s back catalogue, debut feature Guy and Madeline on a Park bench, his script for Grand Piano, and the film that made his name, Whiplash, it’s clear to see that his tastes in movies veer towards the musical. His latest feature, the seemingly unstoppable award winning juggernaut La La Land, sees all those loves and influences come to a head in an old school throwback that pays loving homage to an age of cinema where bright colours and the cast regularly burst into song. But does this romantic musical comedy/drama deserve the universal acclaim and record setting seven Golden Globe awards? Short answer: yes. A hundred times yes. Set in a Los Angeles (as much a character as the two leads) where the golden age of Hollywood bumps against the modern day, La La Land wastes no time in letting the audience...

Damien Chazelle (Courtesy: Gabriel Olsen/Getty Images for AFI)

By: Carson Blackwelder

Managing Editor

At this point, Damien Chazelle is poised to potentially make history by becoming the youngest best director winner in the history of the Academy Awards. While the Oscar nominations for the 2017 ceremony haven’t been announced yet — those will arrive on January 24 — all signs are pointing towards this filmmaker taking home the coveted golden statuette. Will it happen?

Chazelle — who also wrote the modern-day musical starring Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling — has already won the Critics’ Choice Award for best director and is nominated for top honors at both the Golden Globe Awards and the Satellite Awards, too. The film itself — considered the biggest threat in the best picture race at the Academy Awards this Oscar season plus many others — has already won a slew of accolades from film festivals and critics alike.

By the time...

They probably don’t know it yet, but a fairly significant percentage of movie fans are about to change their list of favorite films. On December 2nd (going wide on the 16th), a movie is heading to theaters that has the potential to move into a realm of its own, in much the way that Once simply changed the game.

La La Land follows a couple (Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone) that will at least make people take some notice, and they have proven they can deliver, but the real sell here is writer/director Damien Chazelle. Perhaps not the biggest sell in terms of rushing out to pre-order tickets, but the biggest sell in terms of expectations that this will be one of the best films of the year.

Chazelle may not have dozens of films behind him, but with Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench, Grand Piano,...

Music gave young Tom Townsend an identity. Growing up and attending a small school in Jacksonville, Florida, Townsend was not much of a standout at anything until he laid his hands on a keyboard. "I remember the day my parents brought it home," he tells People of the family's Baldwin Baby Grand piano. He took lessons, but mostly he found the melodies himself, working up to performing in weekend bands that later played his junior and senior proms. Music defined him and became his ally against the anxieties that threatened his adolescent self-esteem. "It gave me my place," he says.

A marvelous little movie: compact, efficient, almost unbearably intense, smartly (perhaps accidentally) feminist. A glorious treat of pulp genre fun. I’m “biast” (pro): loved Cloverfield, love Mary Elizabeth Winstead

I’m “biast” (con): wary of the forced franchise concept

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)

Fans of movies generally don’t want to hear the sort of thing we started hearing about 10 Cloverfield Lane when its existence first became known a few months ago: that producer J.J. Abrams took a spec script called The Cellar that had been floating around for a while and rejigged it into a movie that would maybe kinda work as a sequel to 2008’s Cloverfield (on which he also served as producer). This sounds like the worst sort of Hollywood folly: bad enough when movies are created as franchise cutouts, but now they’re shoving preexisting stories into franchise...

This concludes my look back at 2015 with the newer new albums -- the ones with new, or at least contemporary, compositions, most by living composers.

1. Soloists/Warsaw Boys' Choir/Warsaw Philharmonic Male Choir/Warsaw Philharmonic Choir & Orchestra/Antoni Wit Penderecki: Magnificat; Kadisz (Naxos) Naxos' invaluable Krzysztof Penderecki (b. 1933) project continues to bring us conductor Antoni Wit's impeccable renderings of the Polish composer's complex and challenging music, especially excelling in the choral works, as here. One of the longer settings of this text (here nearly 45 minutes), Penderecki's Magnificat (1973-74) is also epic in sound, written in a high-avant style similar to his iconic St. Luke Passion, with extended singing effects (especially long glissandi, but also speaking and whispering), highly disjunctive melodies, extremely dense dissonance, and colorful cluster interjections by the orchestra, especially the winds.

It has a prominent if intermittent role for solo bassist (here Wojtek Gerlach), surprising...

As I struggled, as every year, to get my end-of-year lists finished in a reasonably timely fashion, it occurred to me that I could publish half of the classical list earlier if I could find a reasonable way to split it into categories. Thus the non-contemporary/contemporary divide this year. The newer composers' work requires more listening; that's the only reason the older repertoire comes first.

1. Ivan Moravec Twelfth Night Recital Prague 1987 (Supraphon) Supposedly this release of a previously unissued concert recording was approved by the pianist shortly before his passing in July 2015. Certainly it's hard to hear anything of significance that he wouldn't have liked about it, because it is a magnificent testament to everything that made him one of the greatest pianists who ever lived: one of the most beautiful piano tones ever heard, allied to liquid phrasing that gave him one of the greatest legato touches ever recorded.

If this were Law & Order: Black Magic, which it almost seems like it wants to be, it’d be a helluva lot more interesting than it is. I’m “biast” (pro): nothing

I’m “biast” (con): nothing

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)

First of all, why is Vin Diesel the last witch hunter? It doesn’t make any sense. There should be lots of witch hunters. It’s not like the need for them died out. Sure, Diesel’s Kaulder (K: the sexy new C) has been around since the Middle Ages, cuz a witch cursed him with immortality and stuff — bloody typical — but he was a witch hunter before that when he was still mortal. He doesn’t have superpowers or anything. He’s just a guy doing a job, and it’s a job that still needs doing, even in the 21st century.

Although it seems they are synonymous with found-footage horror, low budget movies that will still be financial successes if audiences stop turning out in droves to see them, Blumhouse Productions are arguably something far more interesting. Their prolific output can easily be read as an updating of Roger Corman’s low budget exploitation aesthetic for the 21st century, albeit one that reflects pop culture’s increasingly low standards when it comes to genre filmmaking. After all, Corman-produced films helped launch the filmmaking careers of Scorsese, Cameron and Coppola, among dozens more, whereas Blumhouse acts as a low-budget home for directors whose bigger budget movies have critically and commercially underwhelmed.

It is the rare studio that can take successful auteurs like Barry Levinson or M. Night Shymalan and reduce them to directing found footage horror, rather then working the other way round and using these projects to give them their initial big break.

NYC-based movie buffs, take note: Film Society Lincoln Center is holding a series of talks with prominent artists and visionaries from now through July 16—and you don’t have to pay a penny! The society’s Free Talks series highlights the work of rising and established filmmakers. Past talkbacks have included John Lithgow and Marisa Tomei of “Love Is Strange,” Elijah Wood of “Grand Piano,” James McAvoy of “Filth,” and Jay and Mark Duplass of HBO’s “Togetherness.” Participants chat about their cinematic influences and approaches, as well as how their previous films have led to their current work. All talkbacks take place at the Amphitheater at the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center. Julie Taymor, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” June 15 at 5:00 p.m.The latest spectacle from Academy Award nominee Taymor is a filmed version of her staging of Shakespeare’s most phantasmagorical play. As visually stunning as...

Might - finally - Bill & Ted 3 be edging close to a greenlight? Alex Winter's got our hopes up....

Bill & Ted 3 feels like one of those films that's been talked about for some time, with no obvious sign of it moving forward. To be fair, that's not dissimilar to the likes of Zoolander 2 and a new Ghostbusters movie, each of which now has the green light. Yet Bill & Ted 3 - in spite of the keenness of those involved - seems a bit stuck.

However, there may be good news on the horizon. Alex Winter, chatting to Yahoo! Movies, has revealed now that "we're really close. We're just about there". He did say add that "in Hollywood parlance, [that] means we'll either be shooting soon or it's never going to happen", though.

Is he fed up of being repeatedly asked about the project? "We're trying to get the movie made, so...

They've done what they've had to do to survive on AMC's The Walking Dead, brining hope and despair to palpable life on the small screen with gritty realism every week. Covered in grime, splattered in blood, and trudging down the sun-baked backroads and brush-bordered trails this season, the stellar cast and crew of The Walking Dead have paid their dues and then some, and now they're getting a tip of the cap in return with seven nominations for the 41st Annual Saturn Awards.

Andrew Lincoln, Norman Reedus, Emily Kinney, Melissa McBride, Chandler Riggs, and Andrew J. West have all earned nominations, with the TV series itself receiving one as well. Also recognized in this year's nominations is Scream Factory's Nightbreed: The Director's Cut Blu-ray, NBC's Hannibal TV series, Only Lovers Left Alive, and many more.

Press Release - "The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films announces the...

Quite hilarious in a deeply disturbing way that you won’t want to look straight on at, lest it forever ruin you as a lover of movies. I’m “biast” (pro): mostly like Cronenberg’s work, love the cast

I’m “biast” (con): nothing

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)

Oh, did you have dreams of going to Hollywood, becoming a star, and living happily ever after? Maps to the Stars will put paid to them. This is one of Canadian horror auteur David Cronenberg’s (Cosmopolis, Eastern Promises) least trippy films: it’s hardly surreal at all. Which makes it all too plausible as it looks askew at the living nightmares that are the lives of the Weiss family of Los Angeles, all of whom are deeply entrenched in the industry. Except the one thing they think is horrific — and it’s pretty bad...

Now that it's festival run is over, Spanish filmmaker Jon Mikel Caballero wants to share his award-winning short film, Hibernation, with you. It is an emotionally driven work of sci-fi with a bittersweet ending. The visual style is reminiscent of sci-fi films from the 60s and 70s.  You can watch the full short below. Joseph is an astronaut set to go where no man has gone in the Universe through the hibernation program. But something is wrong between him and his instructor Claire, and decisions that seemed unshakeable begin to tremble.Some folks who worked on TwitchFilm faves lent their skills to this projects. Eugenio Mira, director of Grand Piano and Agnosia composed the score for the short and Sergio G. Sánchez, writer of The Orphanage, was...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

"Lost in the Awards Rush" is a new weekly series Slackerwood is running during the awards season, to suggest lesser-known but excellent alternatives to popular frontrunners for big movie awards.

Whiplash's journey to the big screen is the kind of stuff indie dreams are made of. From a short at Sundance to one of the most acclaimed films of 2014, writer/director Damien Chazelle's passion project about a young drummer (Miles Teller) at a prestigious music academy and his tyrannical instructor (J.K. Simmons, in a career best performance) who pushes him beyond all limits, has been hailed by critics' groups everywhere.

In the rush to praise the near-perfection that is Whiplash, its easy to forget Chazelle's script for the taut and stunning thriller Grand Piano (2013), which was released earlier this year and screened at Fantastic Fest 2013 (Jette's review). Directed by Eugenio Mira from Chazelle's original screenplay, Grand Piano stars Elijah Wood as Tom Selznick,...

It was another year full of great classical music. Here are my favorites from 2014, new releases only, no reissues.

1. Magnificat/Philip Cave The Tudors at Prayer (Linn) This superbly programmed and performed album contains eight Latin sacred choral works (specifically motets, mostly votive antiphons and psalm motets) by John Taverner (c.1490-1545), Thomas Tallis (c.1505-1585), William Mundy (c.1529-1591), Robert White (c.1538-1574), and William Byrd (c.1540-1621). Active during the period of greatest religious upheaval in English history, they kept writing richly layered polyphony despite changing fashions (though the later composers listed would also provide chordal English-language anthems as needed). The mightiest work here, Mundy's Vox Patris caelestis, leads off the program. The text, speaking as it does of "flowering vines" and their "heavenly ambrosial scent," practically begs for an elaborate polyphonic setting, and Mundy provided one that is among the most exquisite works of the 16th century.

By Anjelica Oswald

Managing Editor

Ever since Whiplash, a film about an aspiring jazz drummer and his vicious instructor, made its debut as the opening film at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, writer-director Damien Chazelle has been surrounded by Oscar chatter for his second feature.

Indiewire’s James Rocchi said the film was “full of bravado and swagger, uncompromising where it needs to be, informed by great performances.” And The Hollywood Reporter’s Scott Feinberg said the film has been surrounded in “intense and passionate discussion and debate…and that can only be a good thing for a little movie like this one.”

It won both the grand jury and audience awards for dramatic film at Sundance and has since received Independent Spirit Award, Satellite, Screen Actors Guild and Golden Globe nominations. Though Whiplash has established Chazelle as a “notable talent,” his film had an unlikely journey to the big screen.

It's that time of the year again, when not-so-jolly critics start making those lists, checking them twice, to break down an entire year of movies in list form. Last year, I split up my year-end piece into three separate stories, Most Overrated, Most Underrated and my Top 10. This year, I'm changing things up again, ever so slightly, discarding the Overrated category entirely. It's a category I always seem to have trouble with it, and, this year, only two of my picks were wide releases, with another that hasn't even hit theaters yet. I'm also changing the Underrated list to "Overlooked," since it fits better with what I'm trying to say: that these five movies below are truly fantastic, but simply weren't given their just due in theaters.

That's not to say I'm completely surprised that this quintet is overlooked. After all, the "widest" release for all of these films was a whopping 63 theaters,...

This list is in alphabetical order.

Only Lovers Left Alive (voted by Rick)

Only Lovers Left Alive, the latest film from cult indie director Jim Jarmusch, stars Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton as Adam and Eve, two century old vampires. Adam is an underground musician with a dedicated cult following. In his past time, he drives through the city in his classic Jaguar, collects music memorabilia, photographs, books, vintage musical instruments and old vinyls. He lives in an isolated home in the ruins of Detroit Michigan where he reunites with his enigmatic lover Eve. There, he enlists the help of one of his most dedicated fans (Anton Yelchin) to help collect the analog equipment he needs, and his doctor (Jeffrey Wright) to provide him with a steady supply of his favourite drink, type O-negative. Immortality is weighing on him and thoughts of suicide slowly take over. Not much happens, and not much needs to.

Back in August, I released a mix tape consisting of the best tracks, from the best movie soundtracks and best scores of the first half of 2014. This here, is the entire mix consisting of the best songs heard in movies all year long.

Note: If you’ve already heard the first half, simply skip ahead one hour in. Enjoy!

Playlist:

Phase 1

Guardians of the Galaxy Clip

The Band – “The Weight” (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes)

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes Clip

Superhuman – “Where It Ends” (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes)

Alexandre Desplat – “Godzilla Main Theme”

Marco Beltrami – “We Go Forward” (Snowpiercer)

Snowpiercer Clip

Hot Blood – “Soul Dracula” (Only Lovers Left Alive)

Only Lovers Left Alive Clip

James Brown – “Papas Got A Brand New Bag” (Get On Up: The James Brown Story)

Get On Up Movie Clip

Elvis Presley – “You’re the Devil in Disquise...

With just two weeks to go until the release of her new album The Pinkprint, Nicki Minaj has just announced the list of songs to be included.

The “Super Bass” rapper has several notable collaborations on the record including Ariana Grande, Beyonce, Lil Wayne and Chris Brown.

Comprised of a whopping 19 tracks in total, The Pinkprint is poised to keep Nicki on top as 2014 comes to a close.

The tracklisting for The Pinkprint is:

1. “All Things Go”

2. “I Lied”

3. “The Crying Game”

4. “Get On Your Knees,” featuring Ariana Grande

5. “Feeling Myself,” featuring Beyoncé

6. “Only,” featuring Drake, Lil Wayne, and Chris Brown

7. “Want Some More”

8. “Four Door Aventador”

9. “Favorite,” featuring Jeremih

10. “Buy A Heart,” featuring Meek Mill

11. “Trini Dem Girls,” featuring Lunchmoney Lewis

12. “Anaconda”

13. “The Night Is Still Young”

14. “Pills And Potions”

15. “Bed Of Lies,” featuring Skylar Grey

16. “Grand Piano”

17. “Big Daddy,” featuring Meek Mill

18. “Shanghai”

19. “Win Again”

So excited to...