Film
Charli XCX’s Alone Together Is a Cyber-Dusted Love Letter To Her Fans: 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, Rachel Reeves checks out Charli XCX’s new doc. The Pitch: Charli XCX, born Charlotte Aitchison, has never been an artist to play by conventional industry rules. Ever since she began posting songs on MySpace in 2008, her avant-garde approach to pop music has rallied fans and defied common practice. Collaborating with everyone from Iggy Azalea, Carly Rae Jepsen and Troye Sivian to Dorian Electra, Brooke Candy and Sophie, her genre-defying sound and conscious approach to inclusivity quickly resulted in a passionate LGBTQIA+ forward fanbase. Then, just as she was wrapping up her 2019 arena-p...
Mrs. Doubtfire Director Confirms There is No NC-17 Version of the Film
Mrs. Doubtfire On Thursday, a viral tweet started making rounds suggesting that there was an unreleased NC-17 cut of the Robin Williams film Mrs. Doubtfire. The post was sourced from a 2015 interview with director Chris Columbus, but now he’s clarified in a new interview with Entertainment Weekly that he was being hyperbolic. In the original interview, Columbus said that because Williams improvised so much on set, there were enough unreleased takes to string together PG, PG-13, R, and NC-17 cuts of the film. The film follows a divorced actor (Williams) who disguises himself as a female nanny to spend time with his kids, and the version that was released in 1993 ended up being rated PG-13. On Friday, Columbus told EW that there isn’t an NC-17 version of the film, which would ...
Offseason Is a Terrifying Road Trip to Nowhere: 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, Jenn Adams covers Mickey Keating’s spooky new feature. The Pitch: There’s something mysterious about Lone Palm Island. Marie Aldrich (Jocelin Donahue) and her friend George (Joe Swanberg) head to the island community after receiving a letter from the caretaker of her mother’s grave notifying her that it’s been vandalized. They arrive to find the island closed to tourists for the offseason, not to reopen until Spring. While searching for answers, and for the mysterious caretaker, Marie and George realize they may be the latest to fall into a horrific trap spanning generations. Mickey Keat...
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...
