Film
Questlove’s “Summer of Soul” Dominates Critics Choice Documentary Awards
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Paras Griffin / Getty Questlove’s cinematic labor of love, Summer Of Soul, was a smash hit at the Critics Choice Documentary Awards, winning in all of the categories it was nominated in including best documentary feature. The awards were held on Sunday night (November 14) in Brooklyn, N.Y., and hosted by comedian Roy Wood Jr., marking the first time it was held with a live audience since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Related Stories Summer of Soul, which made its debut at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, explores the Harlem Cultural Festival of 1969. The highly acclaimed film features footage that was forgotten and unseen for over 50 years from the entire festival which includes performances from Nina Simone, Stevie Wonder, and Sly and The Fam...
Mel Gibson to Direct Lethal Weapon 5, Because (Again) Cancel Culture Isn’t Actually Real
Mel Gibson will assume the role of director for the upcoming fifth Lethal Weapon movie following the passing of the franchise’s longtime movie maker, Richard Donner, earlier this year. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Gibson announced the news during an event in London on Sunday. “He was developing the screenplay and he got pretty far along with it,” Gibson explained. “And he said to me one day, ‘Listen kid, if I kick the bucket you will do it.’ And I said: ‘Shut up.’” “But he did indeed pass away. But he did ask me to do it and at the time I didn’t say anything,” Gibson added. “He said it to his wife and to the studio and the producer. So I will be directing the fifth one.” Advertisement Related Video Gibson most recently directed 2016’s Hacksaw Ridge, which earned him an Academ...
Dwayne Johnson Explains Why He Pees in a Water Bottle at the Gym
File this under things we didn’t particularly need to know: Dwayne Johnson has opened up in a new interview about the reason he chooses to pee in a water bottle when he’s at the gym. “Well, yeah, the headline is actually true; I do pee in my water bottles, but let me give context to that,” the star told Esquire while referencing a recent headline from Men’s Health that went viral. “‘Cause everyone’s leaning in now to what this means. It’s not a water bottle that I’ve actually purchased solely for water that you wash and you clean when you’re done using it.” He clarified: “These are just bottles that I’m no longer using. And usually the gyms that I work out in don’t have a bathroom…There’s no bathroom there, it’s just hot, sweaty, and dirty. I usually stay pretty hydrated; I need to go to t...
Predator Prequel Prey to Hit Hulu in Summer 2022
The alien-themed Predator franchise is adding a fifth film — set 300 years in the past. Prey, the Predator prequel, will stream on Hulu next summer. News of the latest Predator film broke roughly a year ago, with word that Patrick Aison (Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, Kingdom, Wayward Pines) was set to write the screenplay, but the plot of the latest installment remained under wraps until recently. Today, during the Disney+ Day promotional event, we finally got more information about the film, which comes just a few years after Shane Black‘s disappointing 2018 installment The Predator. The original Predator premiered in 1987, but its prequel takes place way before Arnold Schwarzenegger battled the alien race. Prey stars Amber Midthunder as Naru, a member of the Comanche ...
9 Reasons to Watch Red Notice, a Movie Where Dwayne Johnson and Ryan Reynolds Do Art Crime Together
Got to say this for Red Notice — it knows exactly what kind of a movie it is: a mashup of a classic caper tale and Indiana Jones that’s fully aware of how the star power involved will draw people in, and thus makes sure to put said stars (Ryan Reynolds, Dwayne Johnson, and Gal Gadot) front and center. Director Rawson Marshall Thurber also makes sure that all 118 minutes of the film move along at a brisk pace, with plenty of action set-pieces, twists, and heist hijinks along the way. Things begin with notorious art thief Nolan Booth (Reynolds) attempting to steal one of the three legendary (and incredibly valuable) eggs of Cleopatra, with special agent John Hartley (Johnson) determined to track him down and stop him, building up to a globe-trotting adventure packed with legitimately laugh-o...
Stallone’s Recut Rocky IV Has More Heart, But Less Charm: Review
The Pitch: In 1985, Rocky IV was released to box office success (netting $300 million, the most the series has ever earned), but critical derision. It’s no surprise, either; the film, which tracks Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) as he seeks revenge against Russian superman Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren) for the death of his friend Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers), was the ultimate jump-the-shark moment for a series that had heretofore mixed taut boxing action with comparatively tamped-down character drama. It’s a thorn that’s clearly been stuck in Stallone’s paw for 35 years, and with the creative idleness that came with the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 seemed as good a time as any to pick it back up and revisit it. And so, we have Rocky IV: Rocky vs. Drago – The Director’s Cut, a dra...
Licorice Pizza Soundtrack Features David Bowie, Paul McCartney, Jonny Greenwood, and More
As if casting a HAIM sister wasn’t enough for Paul Thomas Anderson to pique the interest of music nerds with Licorice Pizza, its soundtrack is one for the books: Republic Records has unveiled the tracklist for the coming-of-age film’s original motion picture soundtrack, which features David Bowie, Paul McCartney, Nina Simone, and many more. The album will be released November 26th before the film hits theaters nationwide Christmas Day. Considering Licorice Pizza takes place in the 1970s, it’s only fitting that the soundtrack pulls straight from that era, featuring the likes of Sonny & Cher, Taj Mahal, and The Doors, as well as some more overlooked highlights from that decade. To the surprise of absolutely nobody, Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood — who’s scored numerous f...
Tom Petty Doc, Somewhere You Feel Free, Premieres on YouTube: Watch
A new documentary about one of the key eras in the life and career of Tom Petty is streaming for free on YouTube. Stream it below. Largely based around a collection of 16mm archives that weren’t discovered until 2020, Tom Petty: Somewhere You Feel Free – The Making of Wildflowers follows the rock icon from 1993 to 1995 through the making of his now-classic sophomore solo album Wildflowers. Featured throughout the 89-minute documentary are new interviews with the likes of Heartbreakers guitarist (and Wildflowers co-producer) Mike Campbell, keyboardist Benmont Tench, and more. “I spent almost 20 years with the Heartbreakers,” Petty says in the doc. “And if I only made records with the same people all the time, I’d never learn, I’d never grow. Rick Rubin kind of guided me back into a musical ...
The Bizarre, Booby-Trap-Happy History of the Home Alone Sequels
The abiding premise of Home Alone — a precocious tot in suburban Chicago defending his home against bumbling burglars with an array of increasingly complicated booby traps — feels like the kind of lightning-in-a-bottle pitch that could only sustain itself for one perfect movie. And yet, like its fellow Christmas-siege classic Die Hard, that hasn’t stopped studio execs from mining the concept for, count ’em, four sequels and counting. (A fifth, Home Sweet Home Alone, is set to premiere on Disney+ on November 12th.) After the success of the 1990 original, written by John Hughes and directed by Chris Columbus — a film that grossed nearly $500 million at the box office and catapulted Macaulay Culkin to superstardom — a sequel naturally followed, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. Expand...
Jeff Tweedy Announces Chelsea Walls Soundtrack Reissue with Unreleased Songs
Jeff Tweedy has announced a reissue of his soundtrack to Chelsea Walls, the 2001 film by Ethan Hawke. The newly released edition contains two previously unreleased songs and is out January 14th via Omnivore Recordings. Set in a single day, Chelsea Walls follows a group of artists living in the famed Chelsea Hotel in New York. The film, based on the 1990 Nicole Burdette play of the same name, was Hawke’s directorial debut, and as a longtime fan of Wilco, he asked Tweedy to write the music. Tweedy collaborated with drummer-composer Glenn Kotche on the soundtrack, and Kotche ended up becoming Wilco’s permanent drummer soon after. In addition to Tweedy and Kotche’s original score, the Chelsea Walls soundtrack features songs from Wilco and Billy Bragg, as well as vocal contributions f...
Will Ferrell’s Buddy the Elf Costume Fetches over $200K at Auction
In news that’ll leave you screaming for, “Santaaaaaa!” Will Ferrell’s costume for Buddy from the 2003 movie Elf has fetched north of $200,000 at auction. The auction was held by Prop Store, and via TMZ, Buddy’s costume was expected to be worth around $30,000. But that estimate turned out to sit on a throne of lies. Instead, it went for a whopping £175,000, which translates to about $237,000 USD. The ensemble includes a green pointed hat that comes with a yellow pleated sash and red feather; a matching green tunic with white fur collar and cuffs; a pair of yellow stockings; and black leather shoes with curled toes. The hat, tunic, and stockings are all stocked with a Carelli Costume tag reading “Mr. Ferrell,” while the shoes have been labelled “02 Buddy.” Advertisement Related Vid...
Channing Tatum and Tom Hardy to Star in Afghanistan Evacuation Thriller
Channing Tatum and Tom Hardy have boarded an upcoming film about a group of former special forces members who orchestrated a rescue mission to save their Afghan counterparts during the fall of the country earlier this year. George Noffi (The Banker, The Adjustment Bureau) will write and direct the as-yet-untitled film for Universal Pictures. During America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan earlier this month, several former US special forces members launched ad hoc rescue missions to save former Afghan allies, their families, and other individuals who were not prioritized by the US government as part of its official evacuation efforts. Advertisement Related Video One group, “Task Force Pineapple,” consists of former Green Berets and aid workers who’ve established an underground railroad networ...
