Film
TIFF Review: Listening to Kenny G Explores What Makes Him So Beloved (And Despised)
This review is part of our coverage of the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival. The Pitch: When some people think of Kenny G, they think of the platinum-selling recording artist who’s shaped their childhoods, soothed their workplaces, and even soundtracked the most intimate moments in their lives. But for others, the thought of Kenny G fills them with scorn. He’s a sellout, a fake, a mop-haired purveyor of anodyne saxophone schlock. He disrespects the improvisational, group-centered dynamics of jazz in favor of treacly solo showmanship, and — even worse — subjected the world to “smooth jazz.” The man’s a paradox wrapped in an enigma topped with a curly perm he’s maintained since the 1980s — the best-selling instrumentalist of all time who nonetheless remains a pop-culture punchli...
Christopher Nolan Shopping Film About J. Robert Oppenheimer’s Development of Atom Bomb
Someone keep an eye on Christopher Nolan’s backyard to see if he’s building a nuclear bomb. The acclaimed filmmaker, known for using practical effects in productions like Dunkirk and The Dark Knight, is reportedly shopping a new movie centered on J. Robert Oppenheimer’s development of the atom bomb during World War II. According to Deadline, Nolan is eyeing to direct the picture and is currently sending the screenplay around Hollywood. That latter fact may actually be more interesting than hearing the auteur is making another WWII epic. Since 2002’s Insomnia, every one of Nolan’s projects has been set up at Warner Bros.; while it’s not known if WB is still in the mix for this nuke film, the idea that he’s considering going elsewhere shows how much Nolan’s soured on the studio. Wh...
Jackass Cast’s Medical Bills Have Cost Over $24 Million: Study
For 20 years, we’ve cringed and winced as the stars of Jackass brought the hurt on themselves. But how often have we thought about the damage they do to medical insurers? It turns out the number is almost as painful as the injuries themselves, as a new study has found that the main Jackass crew has racked up over $24 million in medical expenses over their careers. The study from Nova Legal Funding (via Complex) examined the 79 injuries incurred by six members of the Jackass team: Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Chris Pontius, Ehren McGhehey, Dave England, Jason ‘Wee-man’ Acuña, and Preston Lacy. The boo-boos range from 28 broken bones to one alligator bite. In total, NLF estimates that those six individuals’ injuries have cost roughly $24,263,000. When taking into account all stunt performers i...
Mad Max: Fury Road Cars Are Being Auctioned Off Online
Grab some extra canisters of chrome and start your engines: Over a dozen cars from Mad Max: Fury Road are being auctioned off this month through Lloyds Auctioneers, and chances are everyone will be racing to come out on top with a prized vehicle of their choosing. Film buffs with deep pockets can purchase the iconic War Rig, as driven by Charlize Theron‘s character Imperator Furiosa, or the fan-favorite Doof Wagon, which strapped the flaming guitar-rocking Doof Warrior to its hood made out of speakers. Imagine going for a joy ride in one of those ridiculous vehicles through your neighborhood. The starting bids for each one are listed at $1 each, but it will obviously end up going for thousands, if not millions, more — especially when compared to other high-selling cars that aren’t totally ...
Randall Poster on Dusting Off Woody Guthrie Songs, Soundtracking Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch and More
Acclaimed music supervisor Randall Poster had a busy year. The award-winning music supervisor has worked on projects such as Pretend It’s a City and Questlove’s documentary Summer of Soul, not to mention his latest collaboration with Wes Anderson for the upcoming The French Dispatch. What’s more, he’s nominated for an Outstanding Music Supervision Emmy for his work on The Queen’s Gambit. But one of his most ardent passion projects this year is Home In This World: Woody Guthrie’s Dust Bowl Ballads, a re-interpretation of Woody Guthrie’s classic 1940 album Dust Bowl Ballads — a set of (eventually) fourteen songs set amid the economic and spiritual hardships of the Great Depression. It’s typically considered one of the very first concept albums, and tracks like “I Ain’t Got No Home In Th...
Saving the World Sucks in New Trailer for Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence’s Don’t Look Up: Watch
The world is about to end but Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence can’t get anyone to care in the new teaser trailer for Don’t Look Up. Directed by Adam McKay, the dark comedy crashes into theaters and on Netflix December 24th. DiCaprio and Lawrence play astronomers who have learned that a comet is on course to destroy the Earth. The new trailer opens with DiCaprio’s Dr. Randall Mindy having a panic attack in the bathroom ahead of a meeting with Dr. Kate Dibiasky (Lawrence), President Janie Orlean (Meryl Streep), and her Chief of Staff — and son — Jason Orlean (Jonah Hill.) “Your breathing is stressing me out,” Hill chides DiCaprio. “This will affect the entire planet!” he replies, to which Hill says, “I know, but it’s, like, so stressful.” Advertisement Related Video Th...
Last Night in Soho Trailer Promises Mind-Bending Murder in ’60 London: Watch
Focus Features has finally unleashed a full-length teaser for its upcoming psychological drama Last Night in Soho. Watch the trailer below. The time-hopping thriller stars Thomasin McKenzie as Eloise, a fashion student and brand-new London transplant who finds she’s able to be transported back to the 1960s in her dreams. Each night she encounters (or is it embodies?) a nightclub singer named Sandie (Anya Taylor-Joy) and her dashing boyfriend Jack (Matt Smith). “I’ve got this kind of gift,” the aspiring designer tells a friend during her waking hours. “I can see people, places, things others can’t. They’re not just dreams. It really happened.” Advertisement Related Video However, the swinging parties and glittering nightlife of Eloise’s slumbers take a dark turn when she realizes Sandie wil...
R.I.P. Michael Constantine, My Big Fat Greek Wedding Actor Dead at 94
Michael Constantine, who played Gus Portokalos, the father of Nia Vardalos’ character Toula in the 2002 blockbuster My Big Fat Greek Wedding and its 2016 sequel, has died at the age of 94. A representative for Constantine told Variety that Constantine died of natural causes. In My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Constantine portrayed a proud but stubborn Greek restaurant owner, who was resistant to the idea of his daughter marrying a non-Greek man. He was also a staunch advocate of Windex, believing it could cure all ailments. Advertisement Related Video Upon its release in 2002, My Big Fat Greek Wedding was a surprise box office smash, earning over $350 million worldwide. Constantine and the rest of the film’s cast subsequently received a SAG Award nomination for outstanding performance by the cas...
Dickie Moltisanti Commits Some “Good Deeds” in The Many Saints of Newark Trailer: Watch
An empire of crime is built on “good deeds” in the newest trailer for The Many Saints of Newark. This cinematic prequel to The Sopranos will air on HBO Max on October 1st. The first trailer for The Many Saints of Newark shined a spotlight on young Anthony Soprano as played by Michael Gandolfini, the son of the role’s originator, James Gandolfini. That sneak peek hinted at the teenage bruiser’s relationship with his uncle Dickie Moltisanti (Alessandro Nivola), but if this latest preview is any guide, Moltisanti is less a supporting part than the main player. The second trailer opens with Moltisanti visiting a prison and sitting down opposite Aldo ‘Hollywood Dick’ Moltisanti (Ray Liotta). “What do you want, Richard?” Liotta sneers. “I’ll be honest with you,...
Angelina Jolie Reveals She “Fought” with Brad Pitt Over Working with Harvey Weinstein
In a new interview, Angelina Jolie opened up about how Harvey Weinstein affected her relationship with ex-husband Brad Pitt. Speaking to The Guardian, the actress first reiterated her experience with the disgraced Hollywood producer while filming 1998’s Playing by Heart. “If you get yourself out of the room, you think he attempted but didn’t, right?” she said. “The truth is that the attempt and the experience of the attempt is an assault.” (Weinstein has denied Jolie’s experience in the past. She was just 21 years old at the time.) The Those Who Wish Us Dead star went on to reveal she later turned down a role in 2004’s The Aviator alongside Leonardo DiCaprio to avoid working with the producer again. “I said no because he was involved. I never associated or worked with him again. It was har...
Patty Jenkins Slams Movies on Streaming Services: “They Look Like Fake Movies to Me”
Patty Jenkins appeared at CinemaCon earlier this week and let’s just say the Wonder Woman director, ahem, didn’t hold back when it came to her opinion about the intersection of film and streaming services. “Aren’t you seeing it? All of the films that streaming services are putting out, I’m sorry, they look like fake movies to me,” she said during Tuesday’s event, according to the Los Angeles Times. “I don’t hear about them, I don’t read about them. It’s not working as a model for establishing legendary greatness.” Jenkins particularly took issue with her own film, Wonder Woman 1984, debuting on HBO Max the same day it hit theaters last Christmas, saying, “I don’t think [Wonder Woman 1984] plays the same on streaming, ever. I’m not a fan of day-and-date and I hope to avoid it forever…I make...
Bette Midler Calls for Sex Strike in Protest of Texas Abortion Ban
That’s certainly one way of sticking it to the man. Bette Midler took to social media this week to suggest women go on a sexual strike to fight back against their reproductive rights being taken away in Texas’ new anti-abortion bill. “I suggest that all women refuse to have sex with men until they are guaranteed the right to choose by Congress,” the icon tweeted on Thursday, just on day after Texas’ restrictive anti-abortion law — which prohibits women from obtaining an abortion for almost any reason after six weeks of pregnancy — went into effect. Naturally, Midler’s stance set off a firestorm of debate and conversation in the replies, with a number of famous faces also chiming in. “My dad actually suggested that decades ago,” wrote Nancy Sinatra of her father Frank Sinatra, while Rosanna...
