Film
Armie Hammer Accused of Rape, LAPD Launches Investigation
Warning: The following article contains potentially triggering material relating to sexual assault and violence. If you are a victim of sexual assault, you can access helpful resources by calling RAINN at 1-800-656-4673. During a Thursday press conference with her attorney Gloria Allred, a woman identifying herself as Effie stepped forward to accuse actor Armie Hammer of committing violent rape and physical abuse. “On April 24, 2017, Armie Hammer violently raped me for over four hours in Los Angeles,” said Effie, according to Variety. “During which he repeatedly slapped my head against a wall bruising my face. He also committed other acts of violence against me to which I did not consent.” “During those four hours, I tried to get away but he wouldn’t let me. I thought that he was going to ...
Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched Is a Comprehensive, Spellbinding Folk Horror Doc: SXSW Review
Editor’s Note: The following review is part of our coverage of the 2021 South by Southwest Film Festival. Stay tuned for further reviews straight outta Austin — well, virtually, of course. Below, Clint Worthington learns all about folk horror. The Pitch: The history of folk horror is far richer and more expansive than is typically thought of by horror neophytes: More than The Wicker Man and Midsommar, folk horror has its roots all the way back to the 18th century and extends beyond the Anglocentric perspectives of ’70s British horror film fans. Director Kier-La Janisse knows this, and in Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched, she’ll show you an entire syllabus’ worth of cinematic folk horror from across nations, time periods, and forms of media (folk horror exists on T...
Demi Lovato Shares Hard Truths In Dancing With the Devil: SXSW Review
Editor’s Note: The following review is as part of our coverage of the 2021 South by Southwest Film Festival. Stay tuned for further reviews straight outta Austin — well, virtually, of course. Below, Jenn Adams kicks things off with Demi Lovato’s tragic new documentary. The Pitch: In 2018, singer/songwriter Demi Lovato suffered a near-fatal overdose on drugs and alcohol. She survived, but just barely. This followed six years of very public sobriety in which she was often held up as a poster child for addiction and recovery, a dangerous variation of her childhood spent as the literal poster child for Disney perfection. Directed by Michael D. Ratner, Dancing With the Devil is an honest and unflinching account of her relapse, overdose, and recovery and an open discussion of the sexual assault,...
Tom Petty Breezes Through His Wildflowers Era in Somewhere You Feel Free: SXSW Review
Editor’s Note: The following review is as part of our coverage of the 2021 South by Southwest Film Festival. Stay tuned for further reviews straight outta Austin — well, virtually, of course. Below, Clint Worthington reviews Mary Wharton’s Tom Petty documentary. The Pitch: While Tom Petty’s work with The Heartbreakers gave us some of the most iconic country-rock tunes of the past half-century, Petty purists likely cite his second solo album, 1994’s Wildflowers, as his arguable creative apex. But for all the relaxed charms of songs like “You Wreck Me” and “Only a Broken Heart”, the album was made at a particularly tumultuous time for the artist, including creative struggles with MCA, clashes with Heartbreakers drummer Stan Lynch, and the end of his first marriage. While Petty...
Lord Voldemort Comes to J.K. Rowling’s Defense, Calls Backlash “Disturbing”
Over the past two years, J.K. Rowling has gone out of her way to make numerous transphobic statements and reveal that she’s a bonafide bigot. The majority of Harry Potter cast members don’t align their beliefs with those of the discriminatory author, but at least she has Lord Voldemort on her side. Ralph Fiennes joins Robbie Coltrane, who played Hagrid, as the latest Harry Potter actor to defend Rowling’s comments. In a new interview with The Telegraph, Fiennes sympathized with Rowling, going on to say “the vitriol” sent her way is “disturbing.” You would think Fiennes could comprehend why transgender people being denied the bare minimum — respect and equality, particularly in the form of having their gender identity understood — by a life-changing author has fans up in arms. Then aga...
Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché Is Hardly Cliché: SXSW Review
Editor’s Note: The following review is as part of our coverage of the 2021 South by Southwest Film Festival. Stay tuned for further reviews straight outta Austin — well, virtually, of course. Below, Rachel Reeves checks out the new rock doc on Poly Styrene. The Pitch: Marianne Elliott-Said, aka Poly Styrene, is a punk rock icon. She was the first woman of color to front a successful UK punk band. She defied stereotypes and inspired countless women to do the same. She was also a highly flawed individual who struggled with mental health issues, a misogynistic industry, her personal identity and relationships. She was all of these things and so much more. Now, years after her passing, Styrene’s daughter Celeste Bell and co-director Paul Sng have released an incredibly personal tribute to...
R.I.P. Yaphet Kotto, Homicide: Life on the Street and Alien Actor Dead at 81
Yaphet Kotto, an Emmy Award-nominated actor best known for his role in the TV police procedural drama Homicide: Life on the Street, as well as in films like Alien, The Running Man, Live and Let Die, has died at the age of 81. According to his wife of 24 years, Tessie Sinahon, Kotto passed away Monday, March 15th. A cause of death was not immediately made public. The Harlem native portrayed police lieutenant Alphonse “Gee” Giardello throughout Homicide’s seven season run from 1993 to 2000, appearing in a total of 122 episodes. The NBC drama received universal acclaim, winning multiple Emmys, Peabodys, and Television Critics Association Awards. Kotto will also be remembered for on-screen roles in Alien, where he played the space traveler Parker; in the James Bond film Live and Let ...
Glenn Close’s Performance in Hillbilly Elegy Nominated for Both Oscar and Razzie
Glenn Close has joined the select club of actors nominated for both an Oscar and a Razzie Award for the same role. Via The Hollywood Reporter, she owes this achievement to her performance as Bonnie “Mamaw” Vance in the new film Hillbilly Elegy. The Academy Award shortlist was announced earlier this morning, while the Razzies unveiled their lowlights last week. On the plus side, Close will be competing for her first Oscar against Olivia Colman (The Father), Amanda Seyfried (Mank), Yuh-Jung Youn (Minari), and Maria Bakalova in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm. It is Close’s seventh Oscar nomination, following Best Supporting Actress nods for The World According to Garp (1983), The Big Chill (1984), and The Natural (1985), and Best Actress nominations in Fatal Attraction (1988),...
Maria Bakalova Nominated for Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Maria Bakalova, who stole scenes from Sacha Baron Cohen and exposed Rudy Giuliani in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, has been nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress at the 2021 Academy Awards. Bakalova’s satirical performance as Tutar Sagdiyev befuddled real-life shop workers, healthcare professionals, and the lovable babysitter Janise Jones. But even among people who never saw the movie, she’s known for enduring several minutes alone in a hotel room with Former President Trump’s personal lawyer. Giuliani was filmed telling Bakalova to “come here,” lying down on the bed, and reaching into his pants, before Cohen’s Borat character burst into the room. Giuliani later claimed he was only attempting to tuck in his shirt. The clip dominated the news cycle for several days, even as the c...
Riz Ahmed and Steven Yeun Earn Historic Best Actor Nominations at Academy Awards
Two of the best film performances of 2020 were Riz Ahmed in Sound of Metal and Steven Yeun in Minari, and both actors were rightfully nominated for Best Actor at the upcoming Academy Awards because of such. However, in addition to the general excitement of Ahmed and Yeun getting those well-deserved nods, this also means they just made history as the first Muslim actor and first Asian American actor, respectively, to be nominated in the category. In Sound of Metal, Ahmed plays a heavy metal drummer named Ruben who’s learning to live with the loss of hearing, particularly in regards to his career as a musician and his love life — a performance that required him to study with an ASL coach for nearly a year. It’s an intimate and deeply moving character study, especially compared to the bi...
Zack Snyder’s Justice League Is An Audacious Mess: Review
The Pitch: Well, it’s finally here: the infamous “Snyder Cut.” The rallying cry of DC fanboys for nearly half a decade, Zack Snyder’s original version of the DC cinematic universe’s Avengers equivalent before studio meddling and a tragic death in the family led the oft-maligned director to step away and let Joss Whedon get his grubby, quippy little hands all over his self-serious, baroque baby. The 2017 version was visibly, obnoxiously, the product of two directors with warring approaches wrestling with a single project: Snyderesque aesthetics clashed mightily with repetitive, snarky repartee that didn’t seem to befit the DC verse’s grumpiest heroes. It was a bit more fun, but incredibly uneven, and featured one of cinema’s most horrifying upper lips. But now, amid enormous, organized...
Avatar Surpasses Avengers: Endgame as Highest-Grossing Film of All Time
In July 2019, Avengers: Endgame surpassed James Cameron’s Avatar as the highest-grossing film in box office history. Now, less than two years later, Avatar is back to reclaim its throne. Earlier this morning, Disney announced that Avatar had retaken the all-time global box office thanks to the film’s recent re-release in China. Avatar is estimated to have a new worldwide gross of $2.802 billion — roughly $5 million more than Avengers: Endgame‘s $2.797 billion, reports Deadline. On Friday, a reissue of the 2009 blockbuster was released in China, which is responsible for bumping up the movie’s overall total haul in less than two days. In a way, that’s par for the course with Avatar. As Deadline notes, Cameron’s movie achieved that milestone with a number of re-releases since its original run...
