Film
Sylvester Stallone Announces Rocky IV Director’s Cut for Film’s 35th Anniversary
For those who loved the quote “If I can change and you can change, everybody can change,” in Rocky IV, it’s time to put that sentiment into practice. It turns out Sylvester Stallone is working on a special director’s cut of the film for its 35th anniversary on November 27th, notes The Hollywood Reporter, and it will come with a few key upgrades. “For the 35th anniversary, Rocky 4 Is getting a new DIRECTORS cut by me,” the Oscar-winning actor wrote on Instagram on Sunday. “So far it looks great. Soulful. Thank you MGM For this opportunity to entertain.” Unfortunately, there is some bad news. Stallone has removed Paulie’s robot — an of-the-time absurdity that many considered to be a gimmick, but love regardless — from the director’s cut entirely. “The robot is going to the junkyard fore...
Netflix Unlocks Stranger Things, Bird Box, The Two Popes, More for Free Worldwide Viewing
Facing more competition than ever, Netflix is looking for new ways to attract potential subscribers. Among the streamer’s latest initiatives is offering access to some of its biggest titles, including the first episode of Stranger Things, the horror hit Bird Box, and Oscar nominee The Two Popes, which are now available to stream worldwide for free sans a subscription. A total of ten titles have been made available. In addition to those already mentioned, you can check out the Jennifer Aniston-Adam Sandler comedy Murder Mystery, the Spanish-language sensation Elite, Ava DuVernay’s When They See Us, reality-popcorn extravaganza Love Is Blind, iconic actresses Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin squaring off in Grace and Frankie, an...
The Dark and the Wicked Is 2020: Fantasia Fest Review
This review is part of our Fantasia Festival 2020 coverage. The Pitch: Two siblings venture out to their remote family farm, where their father is slowly dying and their mother is unraveling from grief. Something else is happening, though. There’s a darkness behind the sorrow, an evil slowly poisoning the soil… Something Wicked This Way Comes: Grief is on the mind. Thanks to our ensuing pandemic — and really, the collateral damage of our current administration — we’re a populace poisoned with misery. So much so that it’s become an appendage of our day-to-day, something we’ve had to deal with to check in and check out without losing our minds. In a timely twist of fate, grief has also informed some of this year’s most affecting films, be it Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods or Natalie Erika Jame...
Black Panther Director Ryan Coogler Eulogizes Chadwick Boseman: “He Was An Epic Firework Display”
Black Panther director Ryan Coogler has shared a lengthy and extremely heartfelt eulogy for Chadwick Boseman. The Black Panther star passed away Friday following a four-year battle with colon cancer. Coogler begins his tribute by recounting his first encounter with Boseman and how he was immediately compelled to accept Marvel’s offer to direct Black Panther. He later reminisces about Coogler’s dedication to his craft, including his steadfast desire to have his Black Panther character T’Challa speak with an African accent and to have Xhosa as the official language of Wakanda. He also credits Boseman for championing his Black Panther co-stars (“He would come to auditions for supporting roles, which is not common for lead actors in big budget movies”), and for being an inspiring presence...
Brea Grant’s Lucky Gets Blunt on the Ways We Fail Women: Fantasia Fest Review
This review is part of our Fantasia Festival 2020 coverage. The Pitch: On the surface, Lucky is a quirky slasher with an intriguing premise. May (Brea Grant) is attacked night after night by a masked man and no one in her life seems willing or able to help. The elevator pitch for this film must have been relatively simple: “What if you were being attacked and no one cared.” Yet hidden in this premise is a depressing truth and an unflinching look at the experience of dealing with trauma as a woman in America. Grant, who also wrote the script, goes all in on the metaphor, following it long past its logical fallacies to deliver a message that has been coded and hidden for far too long. Lucky may be heavy-handed, but by breaking the boundaries of believability, director Natasha Kermani deliver...
ABC to Air Black Panther Commercial Free on Sunday Night
ABC will celebrate the legacy of Chadwick Boseman with a free, uninterrupted airing of Black Panther on Sunday evening (Aug. 30th) beginning at 8:00 p.m. ET. The Marvel movie will be followed at 10:20 p.m. ET by a 40-minute ABC News special called Chadwick Boseman – A Tribute for a King. Boseman passed away Friday at the age of 43 following a four-year battle with colon cancer. Despite his tragically short life, he made a career out of playing strong Black men, the whole time quietly building a legacy worthy of standing alongside them. Tonight, ABC will celebrate the legacy of Chadwick Boseman with a special presentation of Marvel Studios’ Black Panther followed by the ABC News Special: Chadwick Boseman – A Tribute for a King. It all starts tonight at 8/7c on ABC. pic.twitter.com/doWIWAX67...
John Carpenter’s The Fog and Escape from New York Scores Receive Vinyl Reissues
There’s always room for more John Carpenter in your vinyl collection. Today, Waxwork Records has announced 40th anniversary reissues for two of his most iconic scores: 1980’s The Fog and 1981’s Escape from New York. Both soundtracks have been expanded and remastered from their original master tapes, pressed to 180-gram colored vinyl, given new artwork, and packaged with 12″x12″ booklets featuring unreleased behind-the-scenes set photography. More specifically, The Fog will be placed on “Ghost Eyes” colored vinyl (clear with red circles) or “The Fog” colored vinyl (white and sea-blue Swirl). Meanwhile, Escape from New York will be come on “Descent into New York” colored vinyl (fire-orange with blue and white splatter) or “Statue of Liberty” colored vinyl (blue/green/black marbled). Editors&...
10 Bill & Ted Quotes You Probably Say All the Time
As Bill S. Preston Esq. and Ted Theodore Logan get ready to face the music in their long-awaited third and final adventure — um, Bill & Ted: Face the Music — it’s worth taking a minute to reflect upon just how much this unlikely duo have rocked their way into our pop-culture lexicon. When writers Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon first stumbled upon the idea of combining the time-traveling fun of Back to the Future with, let’s say, the party-time excellence of “Wayne’s World” and the surfer slang of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (anachronisms be damned!), little could they know that their good-natured, bumbling teens and their fledgling band, Wyld Stallyns, would, as they do in the franchise, go on to change the world forever. Editors’ Picks Whether you’re air guitaring in most-triump...
Chadwick Boseman Made a Career of Playing Strong Black Men
For four years, Chadwick Boseman battled colon cancer in private. No one outside of his very tight, supportive circle knew of his diagnosis. To the rest of the world, he was a supremely talented actor on the rise, delivering an instantly iconic performance as a superhero, embodying a future Supreme Court Justice with due dignity, and illuminating the experience of war. He was known for playing strong characters on the big screen, and we only saw a hint of how truly strong he was in his own life. Yet this was Boseman’s way — “to be young, gifted, and Black.” His talent came with a graceful understanding of the culture he was representing in his roles, no doubt emboldened by his experience with life’s mortal mutability. Whether he decided to keep his illness private for personal peace or to ...
New Mutants Co-Creator Slams Movie Adaptation After His Name Gets Misspelled in Credits
After years of waiting, The New Mutants has finally been released — in theaters, no less! The wait apparently doesn’t seem to have been really worth it, if early reviews are to be believed. One viewer who’s certainly unhappy is New Mutants co-creator Bob McLeod, the original artist on the comic book written by the legendary Chris Claremont. Not only is he displeased with how his characters look on the big screen, he’s understandably pissed that his name is misspelled in the credits. In a Facebook post, McLeod vented his dismay. Even though he wasn’t entirely on board with the “interesting idea” to make it a horror movie, he still “was very excited” the New Mutants were being adapted at all. But then he saw how the characters’ appearances changed in the new medium, and he began having doubt...
Nicolas Cage to Voice Alcoholic Dragon in Amazon’s Highfire
Nicolas Cage is following in the proud lineage of Sean Connery, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Rachel Weisz by lending his voice to a CG dragon. The actor has signed on to play the title character in Amazon Prime’s adaptation of Highfire (via Deadline). The live-action series is based on the crime thriller novel by Eoin Colfer, best known for his Artemis Fowl series (which took Disney years to turn into a completely terrible movie). Unlike those books, though, Highfire is aimed at an adult audience, with The Guardian describing it as “True Detective meets Swamp Thing.” It’s centered on Highfire (Cage), a dragon who used to lord over his brethren but now lives in the Louisiana Honey Island Swamp. Going by the name “Vern,” he hides amongst alligators when he’s not watchin...
Scream Reboot Stabs a 2022 Release Date
Unwrap your 2022 Garfield calendar because you’ve got a date in Woodsboro, California. According to Bloody Disgusting, Spyglass Media Group and Paramount Pictures have confirmed their forthcoming Scream reboot will arrive on January 14th, 2022. The date follows this past week’s recent casting additions. Both Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega have signed on for the next chapter, joining past alumni in Courteney Cox and David Arquette. Although it’s expected that Neve Campbell will follow suit, the heroine of the blockbuster horror franchise has yet to officially commit. As previously reported, Ready or Not filmmakers Matthew Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett will direct the fourth sequel. They’ll be working from a screenplay by James Vanderbilt (Zodiac) and Guy Busick (Ready or Not). Even b...
