It’s no surprise that director David Yates floated the idea of doing a Doctor Who movie after finishing the last four Harry Potter films. A Doctor Who-ish tone is all over Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, as well as, of course, gobs of Harry Potter – not to mention the X-Men and, probably…
Ok, so it’s another week of finding film facts to amaze and amuse! Shenanigans Edition! In this week’s “Weird Project Central” story, Warner Bros. bought the rights to make a film adaptation of the video game Mincraft back in early 2014. After some changes along the way, Steve Carell is now in talks to star,…
Elle, based on a novel called O by Philippe Dijan, who also wrote Betty Blue, is Dutch director Paul Verhoeven’s first French film, and features Isabelle Huppert in a performance already being touted as an Oscar contender. It is a mesmerizing, frenzied abomination, a thrilling, propulsively lurid provocation that is simultaneously classy and grotesque, refined and coarse, arthouse and grindhouse.…
Trust Mel Gibson, that maestro of the sadomasochistic, to create a movie that is one part Norman Rockwell-esque love letter to 1940s rural America, one part military courtroom drama, and two parts a war-is-hell mugging that seems to be attempting to mash Hieronymus Bosch into the first twenty minutes of Saving Private Ryan. Despite his…
Having served as a consultant on the original Kung Fu Panda, I’ve been able to observe the rise and fall of DreamWorks SKG Animation from both sides. It’s done remarkably well, considering that it started with an ax to grind. Jeffrey Katzenberg (the “K” in SKG), having felt underappreciated during his time at Walt Disney…
Welcome to another week of updates in the world of film – and maybe a television story – you never know. I’ll try to keep it as absurd as possible to offset the sorrow of this week’s election results. Ugh. In this week’s “Planning ahead” story, 20th Century Fox is already looking ahead to Deadpool…
Shazbot! Another week of wildly entertaining stories in the world of film news! Get a load of this nonsense! In this week’s “Snow White’s Snatch” story, Disney is in talks with director Guy Ritchie to direct their next live-action remake of an animated classic, Snow White. Word is he’s already been tapped by Disney to…
I should have realized. I should have known. I should have guessed … what with me being the host of the San Diego Comic Con Superhero Kung Fu Extravaganza and all. But I am happy to say I didn’t, so I was delighted to discover that Doctor Strange, the newest comic book adventure from Marvel/Disney…
Strange may be a good description of this particular Marvel film for many viewers that aren’t familiar with this hero of the comic book universe, however, it is strange in the best way. Doctor Stephen Strange is a brilliant, and egocentric, surgeon. When he gets in a car crash, his hands are crushed and, after…
Denis Villeneuve has a pacing problem. The last act of the otherwise excellent Sicario (2015) slowed to a crawl; Prisoners (2013) dragged; and now Arrival, his dour, monotonal emo-sci-fi extravaganza, starring Amy Adams as a cunning linguist trying to talk to the aliens, spends its long second act in a kind of suspended animation almost…