Film
Crash, Million Dollar Baby Screenwriter Paul Haggis Arrested for Sexual Assault
Paul Haggis was arrested in Italy for sexual assaulting an anonymous woman who pressed charges against the Oscar-winning Canadian screenwriter. Variety reports that Haggis — known for his work on films like 2004’s Crash and Million Dollar Baby — was charged with forcing a non-Italian woman to undergo sexual intercourse over the course of two days in Ostuni, Italy. Per an Italian police report, Haggis took the alleged victim to the Papola Casale airport in nearby Brindisi, where she was left early Friday morning despite her “precarious physical and psychological conditions.” The report adds that airport staff and border police assisted the woman by giving her first aid and accompanying her to the offices of the Italian squadra mobile police unit. She was then taken to a hospital in Bri...
Heat Stars Robert De Niro and Al Pacino Reveal the Origins of the “Great Ass” Scene
It’s easy to forget with two and a half decades’ worth of hindsight, but Michael Mann’s Heat was not received as an instant classic upon its initial release. That’s true of many films, of course, but Heat also wasn’t exactly under the radar in its day: a big-budget, big-studio Oscar-season crime picture hyping up the first actual pairing of titans Al Pacino and Robert De Niro (they had previously only shared the screen via the dissolves of The Godfather, Part II). In December 1995, Mann’s film was a success, but a moderate one: Decent reviews, some of which expressed disappointment by how long the movie keeps its stars apart. Respectable box office that was nonetheless significantly lower than the grosses for Jumanji. Incredibly, zero Oscar nominations. Now Heat is more or less canonized, ...
Disney Taps Guy Ritchie to Direct Live-Action Hercules Remake
Despite mixed reviews, Guy Ritchie landed Disney a $1 billion global box office haul with his live-action remake of Aladdin, so naturally, the House of Mouse is bringing him back to give 1997’s Hercules the same treatment. According to Deadline, the film will be produced by ABGO, the production company run by The Russo Brothers, and the studio is in the process of hiring writers to work off a first draft written by David Callaham (Wonder Woman 1984, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings). The original Hercules film featured Tate Donovan voicing the eponymous role opposite real-life villain James Woods’ Hades. It was considered a box office disappointment at the time, falling far short of previous Disney blockbusters like Pocahontas and The Lion King while ...
Win Tickets to an Advance Screening of Marcel the Shell with Shoes On
If you’re itching to watch A24’s Marcel the Shell With Shoes On but can’t wait until its general release on June 24th, today might be your lucky day. It’s been over ten years since our favorite stop-motion shell came along and stole our hearts. Directed by Dean Flesicher-Camp and co-written and voiced by Jenny Slate, Marcel the Shell With Shoes On the short film follows a little troublemaking shell named Marcel, and now has over 32 million views on YouTube. Piggybacking off of Marcel’s success, Fleischer-Camp and Slate decided to give the guy his very own feature film. Released by A24, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On is a mockumentary-style film that follows Marcel searching for his family with the help of a documentarian. Advertisement Related Video Slate reprises her role as Marcel, and t...
Elvis Review: Baz Luhrmann’s First Biopic Is Not As Absurd and Ahistorical As You Might Expect
The Pitch: Baz Luhrmann, the Australian maximalist behind such audaciously stylized films as Moulin Rouge! and The Great Gatsby, has taken on his first biopic, and it’s a monster. Although a few attempts have been made at dramatizing the life story of Elvis Presley, most notably Kurt Russell in John Carpenter’s 1979 film also titled Elvis, Luhrmann’s movie is by far the biggest and boldest yet, with an $85 million budget dwarfing every other Presley biopic combined. Austin Butler, a 30-year-old actor who made his name with several teen and tween-friendly TV roles on the Disney Channel and The CW, is the unlikely star of this massive biography of the King of Rock’n’Roll. An Anaheim native whose most prestigious previous project was a small role as a member of the Manson Family in Once Upon ...
Ana de Armas Smiles Through Tears in Teaser for NC-17 Marilyn Monroe Film Blonde: Watch
Marilyn Monroe smiles while Norma Jeane sobs in the new teaser trailer for Blonde, the NC-17 biopic starring Ana de Armas. It arrives on Netflix September 23rd. The 66-second clip opens with Monroe in the green room, crying while receiving makeup. “Please come,” she whispers. “Don’t abandon me.” The teaser ends a short time later in the same spot, as she practices her winningest smile. In between, we see colorized snapshots of the world’s biggest movie star striding down the red carpet or striking a pose on the silver screen, as well as more black and white imagery as she wraps her arms around herself and pushes through a crowd. Blonde is directed by Andrew Dominik and based on Joyce Carol Oates’ 2000 novel of the same name. “Andrew’s ambitions were very clear from the ...
Brian Cox Leads Cast for Lord of the Rings Anime Movie The War of the Rohirrim
Succession star Brian Cox will voice the lead in the upcoming anime movie The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim. He’ll be joined by returning Lord of the Rings actress Miranda Otto, plus Gaia Wise (Silent Witness, A Walk in the Woods), Luke Pasqualino (Snowpiercer), and more for the upcoming fantasy feature, expected to arrive in theaters on April 12th, 2024. According to Deadline, Cox will portray the film’s protagonist, Helm Hammerhand, who serves as the King of Rohan 183 years before the events of original LOTR trilogy. Hammerhand must defend his family and his claim against the clever and ruthless Dunlending lord Wulf (Pasqualino). With the help of his daughter Hera (Wise), Hammerhand ultimately stages a last stand at the Hornburg, which later becomes known as H...
Guillermo Del Toro Shares First-Look Stills of Stop-Motion Pinocchio
No lies here: This December, Guillermo del Toro’s stop-motion Pinocchio adaptation will come to life on Netflix. The offbeat director shared another sneak peek of the project at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival today (June 15th), giving viewers a look at his own animated interpretations of the wooden marionette (voiced by Gregory Mann) and his woodcarver Geppetto (David Bradley). In an exclusive teaser screened at the festival (via The Hollywood Reporter), Geppetto is startled awake by a noise in his attic during what seems to have been a long, late night of woodworking. “Who goes there?” he exclaims. After climbing up the creaky ladder, Geppetto finds Pinocchio alive for the first time: “You asked for me to live,” he responds. “I’m your son.” Understandably, Geppetto ...
Emma Thompson Tosses Insults and Students in Teaser Trailer for Matilda the Musical: Watch
The girl lost in daydreams and the headmistress of nightmares face off in the new teaser trailer for Roald Dahl‘s Matilda the Musical. It’s coming to Netflix this holiday season, and stars a nearly-unrecognizable Emma Thompson as Miss Trunchbull. Adapted from the Tony-winning Matilda the Musical, this Netflix film is directed by Matthew Warchus with original music and lyrics by Tim Minchin. Alisha Weir (Darklands) plays the titular hero, a young girl with a sharp mind and the world’s dullest parents. While her mom (Andrea Riseborough) and dad (Stephen Graham) watch trash TV, Matilda quietly reads. This endears her to her teacher Miss Honey (Lashana Lynch), but draws the ire of Trunchbull (Thompson), a disciplinarian who craves nothing more than to see the children fall in li...
Chris Evans Slams Homophobic Reaction to Lightyear Same-Sex Kiss: “Those People Are Idiots”
Conservative moviegoers will find infinite (and beyond) reasons to scrutinize more inclusive representation in children’s media. But Chris Evans, who voices the title astronaut in Pixar’s Lightyear, is letting the backlash of the film’s same-sex kiss scene roll right off his back, calling its naysayers “idiots.” “The real truth is those people are idiots,” Evans said in a recent interview with Reuters Television. “Every time there’s been social advancement as we wake up, the American story, the human story is one of constant social awakening and growth and that’s what makes us good.” Lightyear — which serves as a Toy Story prequel of sorts — made some upsetting headlines earlier this year after Pixar employees published an open letter accusing Disney of censoring LGBTQ+...
No, Amber Heard Was Not Fired from Aquaman 2
Despite recent rumors that Amber Heard has been cut from Aquaman 2, a new report from Variety confirms that the actress will not, in fact, be recast in the sequel. While rumors swirled that Heard — who plays Princess Mera in the franchise — was set to be replaced by Nicole Kidman in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, a spokesperson disputed the reports in a statement, saying, “The rumor mill continues as it has from day one — inaccurate, insensitive and slightly insane.” False reports of Heard’s firing come after a jury found the actress guilty of defaming her ex-husband, Johnny Depp. Heard wrote a Washington Post op-ed in 2018 in which she described herself as a victim of abuse, and Depp claimed that the story — which never mentioned him by name — damaged his career. Advertisement Re...
Jennifer Hudson Becomes Third-Youngest EGOT Winner
Jennifer Hudson had a little something extra to write home about from the 2022 Tony Awards on Sunday: The singer and actress achieved EGOT status, becoming just the 17th person in history — and the third-youngest — to achieve the title. Hudson earned her “T” as a producer of Michael R. Jackson’s A Strange Loop, which took home the Tony last weekend for Best Musical. Her journey to EGOT began in 2007, when her appearance in Dreamgirls earned her the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. Her 2009 self-titled debut album then nabbed a Grammy for Best R&B Album, while 2021 brought her a Daytime Emmy as an executive producer of the animated film Baba Yaga. At 40, Hudson just barely became the youngest-ever EGOT winner, trailing just behind Robert Lopez and John Legend, who were ...
