The Pitch: Gemma (Allison Williams) works as a roboticist at a toy company, Funki, that churns out monstrous-looking hybrid versions of every kid’s ultimate companion –– a Furby, Tamagotchi, and Neopet all rolled into one. But while Gemma’s job revolves around the needs of children, she’s unfortunately ill-equipped to take in her recently orphaned nine-year-old niece, Cady (Violet McGraw), whose parents died in a tragic car accident. Feeling overwhelmed with the responsibility of having to care for a young, grieving child while feverishly trying to meet work deadlines for her demanding boss (Ronny Chieng), who expects a new toy prototype imminently, Gemma decides to kill two birds with one stone. What if she perfects her latest AI-powered invention, M3GAN (Model 3 Generative Android)...
In recent times, films and TV shows have found rich territory in exploring how iconic figures arrived at their iconic status, from countless superheroes to Whitney Houston to Saul Goodman. Add Edgar Allan Poe to those ranks, thanks to The Pale Blue Eye, as the new Netflix thriller reveals what the famed author might have been like before becoming “that whiskey bent and hell bound godfather of the macabre,” as star Christian Bale (with an assist from Hank Williams) tells Consequence. Written and directed by Scott Cooper, this adaptation of Louis Bayard’s novel stars Bale as Augustus Landor, a detective summoned to the military academy at West Point, New York to investigate a mysterious death that spirals into additional instances of murder. Landor’s primary ally in the investigation is a yo...
According to Finding Your Roots host Henry Louis Gates Jr., Edward Norton was the most well-versed guest in their family history who has appeared on the PBS series, but the Glass Onion star was still taken off guard to find out that historical figure Pocahontas is his 12th great-grandmother. During the Season 9 premiere, Gates Jr. said his researchers uncovered a “direct paper trail” leading to the marriage certificate between Virginia settler John Rolfe and the indigenous woman. “I understand that was family lore,” he said. “Well, it is absolutely true.” Gates Jr. continued, “John Rolfe and Pocahontas got married on April 5, 1614. Shakespeare dies in 1616, just to put this in perspective. Pocahontas died sometime in March 1617 in Grave’s End, England, and John Rolfe di...
Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting, who as teenagers brought Shakespeare to life in Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 film Romeo and Juliet, are suing Paramount for child abuse over the movie’s nudity. As Variety reports, they are seeking damages “believed to be in excess of $500 million.” Whiting was 16 when he appeared in the movie, and Hussey began at 15 but turned 16 during production. For the famous, “It was the nightingale, and not the lark,” scene, Zeffirelli, who died in 2019, filmed Whiting’s butt and Hussey’s bare breasts. Now in their 70s, the actors allege that they had been assured there would be no nudity, only to be pressured the day of the shoot to expose themselves “or the Picture would fail.” “What they were told and what went on were two different things,”...
If there’s one good thing to have come out of Darren Aronofsky’s polarizing latest film The Whale, it’s the arguably overdue renaissance of leading man Brendan Fraser — but what if one of the most annoying men in showbiz had worn the fat suit instead? James Corden recently revealed that he nearly starred in the A24 movie, with fashion mogul-turned-filmmaker Tom Ford originally planning to direct. Deadline’s Pete Hammond brought up The Whale while attending a recent Q&A surrounding Corden’s new Amazon series Mammals: “I was going to play that part, and Tom Ford was going to direct,” the Late Late Show host said, adding that he thought he might be too young to do the character justice. According to Corden, Ford ended up leaving the film because he wanted complete control o...
Barbados has begun seeking reparations from the descendants of slave owners, as The Daily Beast reports, and that may soon include the family of Oscar-nominated actor Benedict Cumberbatch. Cumberbatch’s seventh great-grandfather bought the island’s Cleland plantation in 1728 and passed down ownership until 1834, when slavery was abolished in Barbados. That plantation reportedly exploited 250 enslaved people and became the foundation of the Cumberbatch family fortune, a fact that the actor hasn’t shied away from. In a 2007 interview, according to the New York Times, Cumberbatch revealed that his mother urged him to pursue his career under an alias specifically to avoid paying reparations. He has also said that he took his role in 12 Years a Slave because h...
Jeremy Renner is in “critical but stable condition” from injuries sustained in a snow plow accident in Reno, Nevada on Sunday. Deadline reports that Renner was airlifted to a hospital. A spokesperson for the actor said the accident was “weather related,” and that he is “receiving excellent care.” The nature of his injuries are unclear as of publication. Renner has a home in Reno, near Mt. Rose-Ski Tahoe. The region saw upwards of 18 inches of snow on New Year’s Eve. Advertisement Renner, a two-time Academy Award nominee, currently stars in The Mayor of Kingstown on Paramount+ and Hawkeye on Disney+. [flexi-common-toolbar] [flexi-form class=”flexi_form_style” title=”Submit to Flexi” name=”my_form” ajax=”true”][flexi-form-tag type=”post_t...
Avatar: The Way of Water will ring in 2023 in style. James Cameron’s tentpole is expected to finish the long New Year’s weekend with an estimated $440 million-plus domestically, well ahead of the first Avatar, which came out of the year-end holidays with $352 million on its way to earning north of $750 million domestically (that includes rereleases). The 2009 film still ranks as the top-grossing movie of all time globally with $2.92 billion in ticket sales. Avatar: The Way of Water will cross $1.4 billion in worldwide ticket sales sometime on Monday after sprinting past the $1.37 billion mark on Sunday (Imax accounts for a huge $152.2 million, the fourth-best showing of all time.) That puts it among the 15 biggest films of all time. Overseas, the sequel grossed a sizeable $186.7 million fo...
Courtney Love has expanded upon recent comments that she made on Marc Maron’s WTF podcast about Brad Pitt getting her fired from Fight Club, explaining that she had “no plans” to bring it up, but Pitt “kept on stalking me” about making a film about her late husband Kurt Cobain. During her conversation with Maron, Love claimed she was originally cast as Marla Singer opposite Pitt in David Fincher’s 1999 film (via Stereogum). However, she was apparently fired from the movie after arguing with Pitt, who allegedly wanted to play Love’s late husband Kurt Cobain in a Gus Van Sant biopic (which she clarified was not the filmmaker’s eventual 2005 drama Last Days). Helena Bonham Carter ended up playing the role instead. “Brad pushed me a bridge too far. I don’t like the way he does business or wiel...
[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.] Central to Glass Onion is the character of tech billionaire Miles Bron (Edward Norton), whose invitation to a small Greek island is what kicks off Rian Johnson’s new whodunnit. When Miles’s friends — his “beautiful disruptors” — arrive at Miles’ island with an unexpected plus-one in the form of legendary detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), all they’re expecting is a long weekend of relaxation, with a promised murder-mystery game to keep things lively. But the real murder mystery to be solved isn’t the Gillian Flynn-penned romp that Miles has planned, but the unexpected death of MRA lunkhead Duke Cody (Dave Bautista). There’s also the reveal that days earlier, Miles’ former business partner Andi Brand...
December 28th would have been Stan Lee’s 100th birthday, and Disney+ and Marvel Studios marked the occasion by sharing a teaser trailer for the new original documentary, Stan Lee. “100 years of dreaming,” a social media announcement reads, “100 years of creating. 100 years of Stan Lee.” The documentary will stream sometime in 2023 on Disney+. Before his death in 2018 at the age of 95, Lee wasn’t just arguably the most important figure in the history of the comic book medium, he also became a regular fixture in Marvel movies, serving up dozens of humorous and unexpected cameos. The new 25-second teaser pays homage to those appearances, showing Lee in clips from his walk-ons in Marvel movies over the years. Check it out below. 100 years of dreaming. 100 years of creating. 100 years of S...
The 2023 Oscars are coming right around the corner, with the Jimmy Kimmel-hosted ceremony going down on March 12th. Though nominations won’t officially be announced until January 24th, we’re beginning to get an idea of which movies are strong contenders. While the Oscars race starts to crystallize, here’s a guide to catch up on the films you may have missed — or need to re-watch — ahead of the ceremony. How to Stream 2023 Oscar Contenders Online 2022 marked the full-fledged return of movies to theaters for the first time in a few years, but thankfully films still arrive on streaming services for online viewing sooner rather than later. Advertisement Related Video A combination of streaming services like HBO Max, Disney+, and Netflix with on-demand platforms like Amazon Prime Video and...