Film
Marvel Greenlights Shang-Chi Sequel
Marvel and Disney+ have announced a sequel to the recent blockbuster hit, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. While a title has yet to be announced, as Deadline reports, the film will bring back writer and director Destin Daniel Cretton. “Destin is an amazing collaborator who brought a unique perspective and skill to Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings,” said Kevin Feige, President, Marvel Studios and Chief Creative Officer, Marvel. “We had a fantastic time working together on the film and he has so many intriguing ideas for stories to bring to life on Disney+, so we’re thrilled to expand our relationship with him and can’t wait to get started.” That mention of Disney+ is not accidental; Cretton has also been tapped for an unspecified Marvel serie...
Sylvester Stallone Sparks QAnon Speculation with Coded Selfie
Could Sylvester Stallone be a believer in QAnon? That’s what supporters of the fringe conspiracy movement are asking after the actor posted quite the telling selfie on Thursday via social media. “Heading Into the Storm…..” the Rocky star captioned the snap wearing a baseball hat emblazoned with the letter ‘Q’ while aboard a private jet. Aside from the obvious letter on the hat, the phrase “the Storm” is another notable QAnon reference, having gained popularity among the extremist alt-right movement as a reference to some future date when the ring of high-profile child abusers running the country — including members of the Hollywood glitterati and Democratic leaders — will be rounded up and arrested on the instruction of Donald Trump. Of course, “the Storm” has been prophesied by Q before, ...
Stephen Sondheim Voted for Team America: World Police for Best Picture at Academy Awards
Legendary Broadway composer Stephen Sondheim wrote a letter to Trey Parker in 2005 informing the South Park creator that he had voted for Team America: World Police in Academy Awards’ best picture category. In light of Sondheim’s passing last month, the Twitter account for another one of Parker’s beloved projects, The Book of Mormon, shared a letter sent to Parker by Sondheim in February 2005. “I saw Team America and voted for it as the best movie of the year (a fat lot of good it did you),” Sondheim writes in the letter. “I gather from friends to whom I’ve burbled on about it that it was treated rottenly by the critics and that you are much discouraged. I can’t blame you, but then again this is the time of discouragement. In any event, congratulations to you and your partner [Matt Stone]....
First Look at Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Sequel Reveals It Will Be Two Films: Watch
With little fanfare on a random Saturday night, a first-look at the highly anticipated Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse sequel has swung online. Not only does the teaser revealed the official title — Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse — but it confirms it will be split into two films, with Part One releasing on October 7th, 2022. The teaser picks up right where the Academy Award-winning 2018 animated adventure left off. Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) is chilling on his bed when Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld) pays him a visit through an interdimensional portal. She convinces Miles to don his Spider-Man suit to come for a swing, only the next time we see him, he’s tumbling through the multiverse. Suddenly, he’s intercepted by another dimension-hopping Spidey: Spider-Man 2099, who debuted in...
Alec Baldwin Could Still Be Charged For Rust Film Set Shooting
Last week, during his first interview since the tragedy on the set of indie film Rust, Alec Baldwin claimed that he didn’t pull the trigger on the prop gun that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. He also said that he’s “been told by people who are in the know… that it’s highly unlikely that I would be charged with anything criminally.” But Santa Fe County District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies, who’s leading the investigation, says the actor and several others could still be charged for their roles in the event. “Everyone involved in the handling and use of firearms on the set had a duty to behave in a manner such that the safety of others was protected,” Carmack-Altwies told TMZ. “It appears that certain actions and inactions contributed to this outcome.” Investigation...
Guillermo del Toro Turns From Gory Monsters to Gauzy Film Noir with Nightmare Alley: Review
The Pitch: When we first meet Stanton Carlisle (Bradley Cooper), he’s burying a body under the floorboards of a country home and setting it aflame, burning his past and his previous life to the ground, presumably to start anew. Eventually, his wanderings lead him to a run-down carnival deep in the sticks, where he quickly ingratiates himself with the freaks and geeks who populate it. It’s not long before he sees the flim-flams underpinning each of their acts — particularly the mentalism of fortune teller Zeena (Toni Collette) and her drunken husband, Pete (David Strathairn), who correctly divines the identity of objects with the help of verbal codes — and wants in on the action. Stars in his eyes, Stan makes his way to the big city with young, virginal carny Molly (Rooney Mara) in tow...
Alec Baldwin Says He Didn’t Pull the Trigger in Rust Tragedy During Hour-Long ABC News Interview
The tragedy which took place on the set of the indie film Rust is one that shook the industry, and while the horrific accident happened over a month ago, the truth of what occurred is still slowly coming out. Now, Alec Baldwin has stepped forward to give his version of events to ABC’s George Stephanopoulos. Prior to the airing of Thursday’s interview, ABC News had teased the part of the conversation where Baldwin claims to have not pulled the trigger that day, saying that “No, no, no. I would never point a gun at anyone and pull a trigger at them. Never.” The full interview began with Baldwin explaining why he chose to sit down with Stephanopoulos in the first place, saying that while the investigation continues, “I really feel like I can’t wait for that process to end in February or March...
R.I.P. Jonshel Alexander, Child Actor in Beasts of the Southern Wild, Shot and Killed
Jonshel Alexander, the former child actor who co-starred in the 2012 Oscar-nominated drama Beasts of the Southern Wild, was shot and killed over the weekend in her home state of Louisiana. She was 22 years old. As multiple outlets report, she and an unidentified man were both shot in a vehicle in New Orleans on Saturday. She was pronounced dead at the scene, while the man drove himself to the hospital for treatment. Alexander leaves behind a one-year-old daughter. Alexander was only 12-years-old when she played Joy Strong, friend of the protagonist Hushpuppy (Quvenzhané Wallis), in Benh Zeitlin’s debut feature film. She beat out over 4,000 other actors for the part, her mother Shelly Alexander recalled. “She brought life to everything. Jonshel was feisty, jazzy, spoiled...
Jeffrey Epstein’s Pilot Says He Flew Kevin Spacey on Plane Dubbed “Lolita Express”
Day two of Ghislaine Maxwell’s trial began where day one ended, with Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime pilot Lawrence Paul Visoski Jr. on the stand. On Tuesday, as the New York Times and New York Post report, Visoski named some of the high-profile guests he had ferried on Epstein’s private plane, including politicians, artists, and accused sexual predator Kevin Spacey. For those tracing Epstein’s alleged global sex trafficking operation, his frequent flights have long been a source of interest, so much so that his private plane has been dubbed the “Lolita Express.” Visoski served as the disgraced financier’s chief pilot for over 25 years, and testified that in addition to Kevin Spacey, he flew former presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, plus actor Chris Tucker, late astro...
Cate Blanchett and Kevin Kline to Star in Alfonso Cuarón’s New Thriller Series Disclaimer
Alfonso Cuarón — the Mexican film director behind the Academy Award-winning Roma — is prepping a new thriller series for Apple called Disclaimer. Cate Blanchett and Kevin Kline have just been announced as the show’s first confirmed stars. Based on Renee Knight’s 2015 novel of the same name, Disclaimer follows a successful documentary journalist named Catherine Ravenscroft (Blanchett), whose work focuses on uncovering clandestine wrongdoings of long-respected institutions. A mysterious novel written by a widower (Kline) appears on Ravenscroft’s bedside table, which — much to her horror — reveals that she’s the main character in a story she’d rather everyone forget. In addition to directing, Cuarón will serve as the screenwriter while executive producing under his Esperanto Filmoj ...
Kenny G and Director Penny Lane on Making a Documentary, Flying in His Seaplane, and Defying the Critics
In her introduction to Listening to Kenny G, the latest in Bill Simmons’ Music Box documentary series for HBO, director Penny Lane sets out her thesis statement thusly: “Kenny G is the best-selling instrumentalist of all time. He is probably the most famous living jazz musician. And I made this film to find out why that makes certain people really angry.” What follows is a fascinating (though decidedly Kenny-sympathetic) portrayal of the legendary saxophonist, who’s long held the title of the highest-selling instrumentalist in the world. But while he’s been a pop culture icon for decades, he’s also been a punchline, with his frizzy hair and his popularizing of “smooth jazz” into the pop-culture consciousness. To resist Kenny is to resist muzak in elevators, or the riff from “Going Home” th...
Nicolas Cage to Sink His Teeth into Role of Dracula in New Movie Renfield
Fang-tastic news: Nicolas Cage will star as the vampire Dracula in the new Universal monster movie Renfield. It’s named for R. M. Renfield, an inmate at a lunatic asylum who becomes the count’s henchman in Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel, Dracula. As The Hollywood Reporter notes, Renfield will be played by Nicholas Hoult (The Great), with direction from Chris McKay (The Tomorrow War). Like vampires themselves, plot details are being kept in the dark, and it’s unclear how the film will build a story around Renfield, or whether we’ll see other original characters like Jonathan Harker, Mina Murray, or the vampire hunter Abraham Van Helsing. But Renfield‘s script comes from comedy vet Ryan Ridle (Rick and Morty), from an outline by The Walking Dead‘s Robert Kirkman, so b...
