Film
Bridgerton Actor Rege-Jean Page to Star in Dungeons & Dragons Movie
Rege-Jean Page, the breakout actor of Netflix’s wildly popular Bridgerton series, has been tapped to star in Paramount’s upcoming Dungeons & Dragons feature. The 31-year-old will join a cast that so far includes Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, and Justice Smith. The movie adaptation of the beloved role-playing game is being helmed by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, who previously co-directed 2018’s Game Night. The two re-wrote a D&D script that was based on an original draft from Michael Gilio, and the feature is set to arrive on May 27th, 2022 (though who knows with COVID). Pine was tapped to appear in the film back in December, and earlier this month, Rodriguez and Smith were enlisted to join the collaboration between Paramount Pictures and Hasbro. ...
Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar Deserved to Go to Sold-Out Theaters: Review
The Pitch: Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo reunite as screenwriters a decade after Bridesmaids, this time co-starring as the eponymous leads in a new raunchy comedy. Is the magic still there for another hugely successful laugh riot? A Movie That Oughta Be in Theaters: Movies like Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar are a good reason why it remains heartbreaking that movie theaters are mostly ghost towns these days. The new comedy from Lionsgate Pictures was originally intended for theatrical release last summer, and there’s little doubt that it would be best served by playing in front of a large, boisterous crowd. It’s not to suggest that Barb and Star is bad; anything but. Yet it’s undeniably the kind of film that would work at the height of its powers with a ready audience gobbling up every ...
Full Trailer for Zack Snyder’s Justice League Revealed: Watch
Like a Valentine’s Day gift showing love to all the fans who made this happen, HBO Max has shared the full trailer for Zack Snyder’s Justice League. Check it out below. The first preview of Zack Snyder’s director’s cut of the critically panned 2017 film actually arrived back in August, but a lot has changed since then. Most notably, Snyder convinced Warner Bros. to allow him to do reshoots, with the studio offering up a reported $40 million for additional footage. That’s on top of the $30 million they’d already allotted him to add new score from original composer Junkie XL, redo special effects and coloring (including turning Superman’s suit black), and bring to life the script’s primary antagonist, Darkseid. As if all that weren’t enough, Snyder actually added a whole new character to his...
Judas and the Black Messiah Puts a Nostalgic Lens On a Modern-Day Struggle: Review
The Pitch: The early morning of December 4th, 1969 served as an exclamation point for this country’s most tumultuous decade. The assassinations of Medgar Evers, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X; became jarring reminders that the virtues of morality, peace, and equality would never supersede the ideology that the United States was built on – racism. At 21 years old, Fred Hampton’s life may have been cut short, but his legacy continues to live on. Directed by Shaka King, Judas and the Black Messiah is not only a film about the political killing of one of the movement’s most promising figures, but an exploration of the inner turmoil plaguing the man who set him up – and the mindset of many others like him. In a powerful montage, the film opens with footage focused on quotes and spee...
Trump’s Lawyers Used Madonna and Johnny Depp in Impeachment Defense
Madonna (photo by Paul Morigi), Donald Trump, and Johnny Depp (photo via YouTube) Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial has been taking place over the past few days, and his lawyers haven’t been doing that great of a job defending him. For example, on Friday they argued that Democrats have previously used the same type of provocative language that Democrats are now claiming the former president used to incite the Capitol siege. To prove their point, Trump’s lawyers played a video that featured “fight” rhetoric used by Madonna and Johnny Depp, neither of whom provoked a violence insurrection. Trump’s attorney David Schoen accused the House impeachment managers of deceptively editing Trump’s words in their own video, which focused on Trump’s rallying cries on January 6th that were the...
New Tom Petty Documentary To Premiere at SXSW 2021 Film Festival
With Sundance now behind us, South by Southwest has gone ahead and announced its feature film lineup for 2021. Set to take place virtually from March 16th to 20th, the Austin-based festival will screen nearly a hundred new features. Not surprisingly, the major highlights of the lineup are of the musical variety, specifically documentaries Tom Petty, Somewhere You Feel Free, Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil, and the Charli XCX-focused Alone Together. “It’s been a year unlike any we’ve experienced, first marked by the cancellation of SXSW 2020,” said Janet Pierson, Director of Film. “We feel privileged to have been able to pivot to SXSW Online and present a fantastic treasure trove of programming, including a pared down and wonderful selection of films that we know will delight, ente...
Robin Wright Tries to Ground Herself in the Sumptuous But Hollow Land: Review
The Pitch: Edee (Robin Wright) wants to get away from it all — life, family, civilization. She’s mourning something, or rather, escaping, but we don’t know precisely what. Flashbacks to a husband (Warren Christie), a son, and a concerned sister (Kim Dickens) give us plenty of clues, though. Packing up a U-Haul and driving across the country from Chicago to a remote cabin in Quincy, Wyoming, Edee makes it clear that she wants to be left alone to fend for herself. Edee sends the truck and U-Haul away, leaving only herself and a sparse collection of canned food to fill her new home. Naturally, the city slicker doesn’t make it long before weather, starvation, and dangerous wildlife force the intervention of a kind stranger named Miguel (Demián Bichir), who helps her back on her feet and t...
Debating the Essential Hannibal Lecter
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Art is subjective. Music and movies aren’t about competition; they’re about artistic expression. Well, for those of you who know better than to believe those lies, welcome to another installment of Vs. This time, Justin Gerber, Clint Worthington, and Dominick Suzanne-Mayer debate over who played the best Hannibal Lector as Ridley Scott’s Hannibal turns 20 and Jonathan Demme’s The Silence of the Lambs turns 30. Mind you, this piece originally ran in 2016. Justin Gerber: I grew up on Anthony Hopkins’ Hannibal. It earned him an Academy Award for Best Actor. It gave his career a boost it desperately needed, and he’s been pretty much riding the waves ever since. He’s great. No question. However, there’s something about the laissez-faire performance of Brian...
Judd Apatow’s Pandemic Comedy The Bubble to Star Pedro Pascal, Karen Gillan, Maria Bakalova
Pedro Pascal (photo by Gage Skidmore), Maria Bakalova (Felicity Kay, image via Instagram), and Karen Gillan (Skidmore) From The 40-Year-Old Virgin to the 40+-week quarantine: Judd Apatow’s next project is a COVID-19-inspired comedy called The Bubble. Via The Hollywood Reporter, it stars The Mandalorian himself Pedro Pascal, Karen Gillan of Guardians of the Galaxy fame, and Borat Subsequent Moviefilm breakout actress Maria Bakalova. While you may be rolling your eyes at the the thought of another unnecessary pandemic movie, the Knocked Up director has a twist in mind. Reportedly, The Bubble takes inspiration from the real-life experience of the cast and crew on Jurassic Park: Dominion. That team found themselves quarantined away from their f...
Borat’s “Wuhan Flu” on Shortlist for Best Original Song Oscar
Oscar’s comin’. The Academy has unveiled shortlists for nine categories at the upcoming 2021 Oscars, including Best Original Song. Already, there’s plenty of competition among those listed, including from — believe it or not — Kazakhstan’s most trusted journalist. Yes, “Wuhan Flu” from Amazon’s Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan is one of the 15 original songs that made the shortlist. The ridiculous singalong joins a tough assembly that includes heavy hitters like Janelle Monáe (“Turntables” from All In: The Fight for Democracy), Mary J. Blige (“See What You’ve Done” from Belly of the Beast), H.E.R. (“Fight For You” from Judas and the Black Messiah), and Leslie Odom, Jr. (“Speak Now” from One Night...
New Movie Long Live Rock Features Members of Metallica, RATM, Slipknot, GN’R, and More: Watch Trailer
Long Live Rock … Celebrate the Chaos A new movie documenting the culture of hard rock music, titled Long Live Rock … Celebrate the Chaos, is set to premiere on March 11th. Among the many artists appearing in the film are members of Metallica, Rage Against the Machine, Slipknot, and Guns N’ Roses. The documentary was filmed at various U.S. rock festivals, and boasts interviews with Metallica’s Lars Ulrich, RATM’s Tom Morello, Slipknot’s Corey Taylor, Guns N’ Roses’ Duff McKagan, Rob Zombie, Alice in Chains’ Jerry Cantrell, Korn’s Jonathan Davis, Body Count’s Ice-T, Halestorm’s Lzzy Hale, and more. The movie is directed by film/TV producer and music supervisor Jonathan McHugh (Saw franchise), and produced by Gary Spivak (Danny Wimmer Presents) and Jonathan Platt (Saw franchise music pr...
Documentary on Four Seasons Total Landscaping in the Works
Four Seasons Total Landscaping is still cashing in on its increased exposure thanks to the bumbling, blundering 2020 Trump campaign. Since the humble Philadelphia business became the accidental site of a Rudy Giuliani press conference back in November, the company has raked it in with exclusive merch and that cheeky “Opportunity Knocks” Super Bowl ad for Fiverr. Now, the debacle that started this whole thing will become the focus of a new documentary from a pair of Oscar-winning producers. Entitled Four Seasons Total Documentary, the in-production film is being directed by Christopher Stoudt (Patron Saint of Jazz Fest). Glen Zipper and Sean Stuart, who won Academy Awards in 2012 for their high school football doc Undefeated, are serving as producers (via The Hollywood Reporter). Four Seaso...
