Movies
Best mountaineering movies: 28 must-see cliffhangers
Our carefully curated list of the best mountaineering movies ever made Recently, I re-watched one of my favourite mountaineering movies: Everest. Historically, even the best mountaineering films have struggled to bridge the gap between climbing documentary and Hollywood blockbuster. However, Everest – released in 2015 and starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Josh Brolin – managed to please both thrill-seeking moviegoers and mountaineers alike (unless you’re Jon Krakauer of course). I would rate the film right up there with the wince-inducing 127 Hours (2010) and North Face (2008), a chilling German film about a failed attempt on the Eiger. It made me want to re-watch the very best mountaineering movies, in particular, Meru (2015) and Touching the Void (2003), the latter of which also hap...
‘Phoenix Rising’ Doc Offers Harrowing Look at Evan Rachel Wood Abuse Allegations Against Marilyn Manson
[Trigger warning: this article contains descriptions of domestic violence, as well as sexual and physical abuse.] Sometimes the film you set out to make is not the one you end up with. That’s the case with director Amy Berg’s intense two-part HBO documentary Phoenix Rising. The veteran filmmaker originally set out to document actress Evan Rachel Wood’s successful drive to lengthen the statute of limitations for domestic violence felonies in California from three to five years. As Wood was fighting for the Phoenix Act — which was signed into law in 2019 — Berg realized that any potential film would have to delve into Wood’s allegations against her former fiancé/boyfriend, shock rocker Marilyn Manson (born Brian Warner). That story makes up much of the first part (“Don’t Fall”) of the nearly...
Nosferatu Turns 100
This Friday, March 5, marks the 100th anniversary of the German silent horror film Nosferatu. An early example of German Expressionism, the film was directed by F.W. Murnau, who helmed other early cinematic masterpieces such as Sunrise (1927) and City Girl (1930), and starred Max Schreck as a Transylvanian vampire named Count Orlok. Orlok is looking for new digs, which brings estate agent Thomas Hutter (Gustav von Wangenheim) his way. Hutter has heard stories of the mysterious Orlok, mostly from locals who cower at the mere mention of the Count’s name. Paying no mind, Hutter makes his way to Orlok’s castle and is invited to stay for dinner. Hey, can’t beat a free meal! While dining, Hutter cuts his thumb with a steak knife and begins to bleed profusely. Like any good host, Orlok offers to ...
Get to Nose Cyrano de Bergerac
Cyrano de Bergerac is one of the most prominent romantic figures in literary history — but even he’d admit his nose was even bigger! The public first got a whiff of the exploits of the seductive swordsman in 1897, in a play that bears his name and has been retold on stage and screen scores of time ever since. Despite the historically famous loaf of French bread on his face (which can be picked up by satellite cameras to this day) Cyrano has remained the grooviest guy from Gaul with all the gals. We caught up with the smooth-talking swordsman to talk about Cyrano the ELEVENTH film – starring Peter Dinklage as Cyrano and Haley Bennett as Roxanne (in theaters Feb. 25) – celebrating his powers of persuasion with the ladies to see if he thinks it passes his smell test. SPIN: Thanks for tak...
Is Boogie Nights the Sexiest Movie of All Time?
The other morning I found a proposition waiting for me in my inbox, courtesy of my trusted SPIN editor. It was an assignment to look over a dating website’s list of the 25 Sexiest Movies of All Time. Maybe I could do a small write-up about the films they found to be most ooh-la-la. Some assignments are no-brainers. And since I have no brain, and I love movies — especially ones with nudity in them — this seemed right up my alley. Culled from a list of 110 sexy movies, with a grading system that included categories such as sexiness (naturally, but subjective), box office earnings (nothing sexier than money), popularity (no incel flicks here) and accolades (“and the Oscar for Best Foreplay goes to…”), MyDatingAdvisor.com has compiled the perfect list for you and your partner’s nex...
Here Are Your 2022 Oscar Nominees
Fill your Letterboxd watchlist: Oscars season is officially here. The nominations for the 2022 Academy Awards were announced today (February 8), and Jane Campion’s measured but smoldering western The Power of the Dog leads the pack with 12, the most of any film. Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi epic Dune — anchored by performances from Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya — received 10, while Steven Spielberg’s sweeping West Side Story update and Kenneth Branagh’s black-and-white reflection on his Irish childhood Belfast earned 7 each. All four of those films are nominated for Best Picture, along with coming-of-age tale CODA, dark apocalypse comedy Don’t Look Up, storytelling drama Drive My Car, Williams family biopic King Richard, nostalgic jaunt Licorice Pizza, and n...
The Best and Worst Football Movies of All-Time
Football movies are problematic because they are largely as predictable as Tom Brady is on Super Bowl Sunday. (Well, except for this year.) In the end, the long shot squad of misfits almost always tops the team of super-jocks and the washed-up quarterback always seems to be able – against all odds – to muster up that one final drive to win the big game and the heart of the female lead. With that in mind, we surveyed some of the best and worst (and just OK) football films and ran some options for you. The Touchdowns Friday Night Lights (2004) Based on the timeless book of the same name by Buzz Bissinger, high school football reigns supreme over all in the depressed heartland. Billy Bob Thornton as Coach Gary Gaines is the MVP of the film version, and the intensity of small-town football has...
Troye Sivan’s New Film Three Months Will Stream On Paramount+ Very Soon
The last time Troye Sivan appeared on the big screen was 2018, in Joel Edgerton’s conversion-therapy drama Boy Erased. The interceding years have primarily seen him serving bops in the form of his 2020 EP, In a Dream, as well as collaborations with Lauv, Kacey Musgraves, and Tate McRae. But in just few weeks, Sivan makes his return to film, thanks to streaming. Three Months, a new coming-of-age comedy-drama movie produced by MTV Entertainment Studios and starring Sivan, will begin streaming exclusively on Paramount+ later this month. The film follows Caleb, a high-school senior in South Florida who is exposed to HIV just as he’s about to begin a new chapter — and the new love he finds as he waits for his results. Oh, and because this is Sivan, he’s making sure to likewise...
Flying Lotus to Score Upcoming Sci-Fi Horror Film, “Ash”
As if Flying Lotus‘ immaculate body of work couldn’t get more impressive, the Grammy Award-winning artist is set to score an upcoming sci-fi horror film called Ash. According to Deadline, the movie is set on a distant planet where a crew member of a space expedition awakes to find everyone in her station murdered. Her inquisitiveness leads to a horrifying thrill-ride accentuated by FlyLo’s original score. The film is based on a screenplay written by Jonni Remmler and it’s being produced by XYZ Films and GFC Films, Deadline. “I’ve a strong desire to innovate in the sci-fi space and I really want to show the world something they’ve never seen before,” Flying Lotus said in a press statement. Flying Lotus. Tim Saccenti Recommended Articles The esteemed ...
Rita Moreno, Ariana DeBose & Rachel Zegler Tell Their Side of ‘West Side Story’
There’s a saying that you should never meet your idols, but Rachel Zegler and Ariana DeBose beg to differ. It was the spring of 2019 when Rita Moreno showed up to rehearsals for the new West Side Story movie at Gelsey Kirkland dance studios in Brooklyn’s Dumbo neighborhood. She is an actor and executive producer on the film, but to many of the young members of the cast, the first Latina actress to win an Academy Award meant so much more than that. Moreno strode into the room and asked to meet the person playing Anita, the heir to her Oscar-winning role from the 1961 adaptation of the musical, but she was nowhere to be found. “I was having a full-fledged panic attack,” DeBose admits. “I hid underneath the bleachers for like 20 minutes until I could get mys...
Ye aka Kanye West Demands Final Edit Approval On ‘jeen-yuhs’ Netflix Doc
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Netflix / Netflix The highly anticipated documentary chronicling the rise of Kanye West through unseen footage is set to hit Netflix – but there are clouds over the release due to the rapper demanding to have the approval of the final edit beforehand. Directed by Clarence “Coodie” Simmons and Chike Ozah, jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy is an in-depth look at the rapper and producer on his journey to be the popular and at times controversial superstar that he is today. But on the eve of the film’s release on the streaming platform giant, West has issued a public demand that he sees the project’s final version before giving his approval. In a post on West’s Instagram page made on Friday (January 21st), the caption to the image of his face and the film title read...
Amy Berg’s Evan Rachel Wood/Marilyn Manson Doc ‘Phoenix Rising — Part One: Don’t Fall’: Sundance 2022 Film Review
Wood excoriates Warner directly here, recounting how physically, sexually and psychologically abusive he had been, cruelty which included drugging her and then raping her while they filmed the music video for his song “Heart-Shaped Glasses.” Only the first portion of this two-part HBO series was made available and shown via the Sundance Film Festival as this review went to press, but it’s pretty hard to see how Manson’s already shredded reputation will recover from it, no matter how much he denies, as reported here, that any of the allegations are true. Woods alludes to the fact that several other women, such as the actor Esme Bianco, have alleged that they suffered similar abuse from him and perhaps some of them will speak about it on camera in part two of Rising Phoenix. W...
