Film
Former Olympic Speed Skater Allegedly Stole $10 Million and Financed Elijah Wood Movie
A one-time Winter Olympic speed skater found herself in hot water today when she was charged with defrauding the federal government of $10 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, part of which she allegedly used to help fund an Elijah Wood movie. In court papers filed in Utah, prosecutors allege that Allison Baver — who represented the United States in the 2002, 2006, and 2010 Olympics as a member of the women’s speed skating team — filed multiple loan applications claiming her production company, Allison Baver Productions, had as many as 430 employees and a monthly payroll of $4 million. According to the indictment, the Taylorsville, Utah native’s eponymous company was all smoke and mirrors, with no employees at all. And yet, Baver’s applications were approved to the tune of a...
Chloe Grace Moretz Explains the Ending of Mother/Android: “Everyone Was Not Okay”
[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for Mother/Android.] The new Hulu film Mother/Android is a story about the robot apocalypse that’s really about the power of parental love. Chloe Grace Moretz stars as Georgia, a young woman living in a world where robot servants are a normal part of life; until, that is, the night the androids rose up in violent revolt against humanity. Up until then, the biggest problem Georgia had was how she and her boyfriend Sam (Algee Smith) were going to handle her unplanned pregnancy — several months later, they’re making their way through the northeast backroads towards Boston, where there’s promise of a ship that might help them escape from a ruined America. All they have to do is survive the constant threat of robot attacks, not to mention her own ...
Betty White Celebrates 100th Birthday in Trailer for Special Documentary: Watch
Betty White is turning 100 years old next month, and to celebrate she’s headed to movie theaters around the country. For one day only, Betty White: 100 Years Young — A Birthday Celebration will screen in 900 US theaters on January 17th — the same day the beloved screen legend hits the century mark. Check out the trailer below. The film is directed by Steve Boettcher and Mike Trinklein, and will document the icon’s real-life 100th birthday party, attended by a guest list including Robert Redford, Morgan Freeman, Carol Burnett, Ryan Reynolds, Tina Fey, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Clint Eastwood, Jay Leno, Jimmy Kimmel, and more. It will also give fans a peek at White’s personal life off camera and look back on her more than 80-year career. “Who doesn’t love a party?!? This one is gon...
Filmmaker of the Year Janicza Bravo on Zola’s Legacy, Directing TV, and Why She Wants to Write Her Next Film on Her Own
Our 2021 Annual Report wraps up with the announcement of Janicza Bravo as our Filmmaker of the Year. You can find all of our awards, lists, and articles about the best music, film, and TV of 2021 in one place here. A thread that ran through Consequence’s hourlong conversation with filmmaker of the year Janicza Bravo was the concept of what we leave behind in life. This isn’t too surprising, given that both Bravo and this writer were musing about what’s like to be a woman who just turned 40. But what was a bit unexpected was that we got there by way of David Tennant. “The first line of the obituary, I suspect, has been written,” the Scottish actor said a few years ago, commenting on how playing the 10th Doctor of Doctor Who has affected his legacy. When Consequence brought up that quote, it...
The Pandemic Has Changed Movies, But There’s Still Big Bucks in Blockbusters
Our 2021 Annual Report continues with a deep dive into how COVID-19 has changed “event” movies. As December rolls along, stay tuned for more awards, lists, and articles about the best music, film, and TV of 2021. You can find it all in one place here. Spider-Man: No Way Home, which hit theaters in the US on December 16th, is poised to shatter box office records. One of the most anticipated blockbuster films of 2021 (maybe even of the last five years), all eyes are on Peter Parker and Co. to rake in the kind of cash that superheroes typically did in the Before Times. Of course, the film is about to smash said records in a very different world than when pre-production on it began in 2017. The COVID-19 pandemic has done astronomical damage to countless businesses, and the movie industry was n...
Matthew Vaughn Says “F*cking Nuts” Kick-Ass Reboot Coming in Two Years
With no power comes no responsibility — but it does come with a reboot. Filmmaker Matthew Vaughn has revealed that he has eyes on a “big reboot” of the cult favorite R-rated comic book movie franchise Kick-Ass. Speaking at a virtual press junket for his upcoming The King’s Man, Vaughn was asked about another of comic book creator Mark Millar’s other successful film adaptations: Kick-Ass. The black comedy came out in 2010, just at the genesis of the superhero movie craze. Starring Aaron Johnson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Nicolas Cage, and Chloë Grace Moretz in her breakout role, the film brought a level of ultra-violence and foul language to crime fighting that received as much outrage as it did fan appreciation. A sequel followed in 2013, and Vaughn is now looking to restart the blood...
Keanu Reeves’ 10 Most Iconic Roles
The best blockbuster stars have a quality that sets them apart: the funny way that Bruce Willis gets pissed off; the moments of doubt when Denzel Washington bets on himself; and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s love of language, his tremendous joy in pummeling enemies with words as well as fists. With Keanu Reeves, it’s his listening. Whether it’s a mad bomber, a flirty stranger, or a messenger from a different reality, Reeves is always utterly convincing as a man who needs to hear more. From the beginning of his five-decade career, Reeves’ characters have been animated by an effortless curiosity, starting with the naive wonder of his breakthrough role, 1989’s Bill and Ted, and continuing through the reality-bending The Matrix. Even his off-screen choices seem bathed in curiosity, includi...
Here’s a Timeline of Tom Holland and Zendaya’s Relationship, Because We’re Chasing Joy Where We Can
Our 2021 Annual Report continues with a Tomdaya timeline, because why not? As the year winds down, stay tuned for more awards, lists, and articles about the best music, film, and TV of 2021. You can find it all in one place here. Look, we all needed a win this year. Happy release week to Spider-Man: No Way Home, which is allegedly exciting and fresh and an impressive moment for the MCU and all that. Anyway, let’s talk about two of its leads: Spider-Man and MJ. Peter Parker and Mary Jane. Tom and Z. Tom Holland (a golden retriever who was accidentally transformed into a lovable young man with the gifts of song, dance, and acrobatics) exploded to full-fledged stardom when he was just nineteen years old. The former Billy Elliot switched out the curtain call tutu for an iconic spidey suit in C...
Keanu Reeves’ Mother Designed Dolly Parton’s Playboy Outfit and He Wore It for Halloween
Not all parents will have the opportunity to dress their children for Playboy Magazine, but we can all aspire to be as supportive — literally and figuratively — as Keanu Reeves’ mom Patricia Taylor. A costume designer, Taylor created the bustier that held in Dolly Parton on her iconic Playboy magazine cover, and as Reeves revealed in a new appearance on Jada Pinkett Smith’s Red Table Talk, after Parton was done with it, he wore it for Halloween. The episode of Red Table Talk served as a Matrix reunion. Smith appeared in The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions alongside Reeves, and they were joined for the conversation by Reeves’ The Matrix Resurrections costars Carrie-Anne Moss and Priyanka Chopra Jonas....
Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem Tried to Back Out of Being the Ricardos
When word got out that Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem would be playing Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz in Aaron Sorkin’s Being the Ricardos, many scratched their heads: Kidman isn’t exactly the spitting image of Ball, and Bardem isn’t exactly Cuban. Turns out, the actors were a bit confused by the casting themselves. In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Kidman and Bardem said they actually tried to get out of the film before shooting began. “I wasn’t aware of how big it was,” Bardem, who grew up in Spain, said of I Love Lucy, Ball and Arnaz’s sitcom-inventing television show. The actor mostly knew of Arnaz from his music with Spanish musician Xavier Cugat. “When I really started digging into him, the deeper I got, the more I knew how iconic [the show] was … i...
Guillermo del Toro Reveals Plot of His Abandoned Pacific Rim Sequel
Guillermo del Toro co-wrote the screenplay to the 2013 science fiction smash Pacific Rim, but by the time its sequel Pacific Rim: Uprising, hit theaters in 2016, he was no longer attached to the project. In a recent interview, the director revealed what Pacific Rim 2 would’ve looked like if he had the final say. “The villain was this tech guy that had invented basically sort of the internet 2.0. And then they realized that all his patents came to him one morning,” del Toro told TheWrap. “And so little by little, they started putting together this and they said, ‘Oh, he got them from the precursors.’ The guys that control the kaiju.” He continued, “And then we found out that the precursors are us thousands of years in the future. They’re trying to terraform, trying to re...
Lady Gaga Reveals She ‘Absolutely’ Took Bradley Cooper’s Advice for ‘House of Gucci’ Role
Lady Gaga‘s friendship with Bradley Cooper is still going strong. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly‘s The Awardist podcast on Monday (Dec. 13), the superstar opened up about how the A-lister’s support ultimately led her to her current starring role in Ridley Scott’s House of Gucci. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “Bradley Cooper believed in me for the role of Ally Maine in A Star Is Born, and the way that he empowered me to take helm of that character … it really was the success of our artistic collaboration, I think, that landed me where I am now,” Gaga said during the phone interview. “Absolutely,” she added when asked if she had consulted her one-time co-star and director before tackling the part of Patrizia Gucci. “You know, I’ve c...
