Venice Lineup Announced

by Nathaniel R

Hirokazu Kore-eda is back quickly after "Shoplifters" with "The Truth" starring Juliette Binoche, Catherine Deneuve, and Ethan Hawke

Since we never get to go to Venice *sniffle* we can't grant them as much time as we do TIFF each year but here's a quick check in with their lineup of films. The festival kicks off on Wednesday August 28th and wraps on Saturday September 7th, just as TIFF's first weekend is in full swing. Telluride happens during all that, too --it's a busy time for cinephiles, critics, stars, and filmmakers... 

Click to read more ...

Review: The Lion King (2019)

by Tim Brayton

The refrain echoing through many of the negative reviews of Disney's new remake of The Lion King – and even a few of the not-as-enthusiastic positive reviews – has been that the film is "pointless." Which, yeah, it is: a scene-by-scene, line-by-line, and frequently shot-by-shot remake of the 1994 classic that is weaker on essentially every possible point of comparison. The only reason to watch the new film while the 1994 film exists is because the new one is in theaters and thus is bigger.

So let's not belabor that. Instead, let's try, as much as possible, to take the film on its on terms. Let's pretend, if we possibly can, that this is a brand new story told using cutting-edge technology, and freed from the shackles of memory and nostalgia. Sad to say, even if that might mean that The Lion King isn't pointless, it's still not very good...

Click to read more ...

Once Upon a Link in Hollywood

• Variety intereesting news about Disney's alternate compensation plan for TV creatives (the television landscape is changing but pay structures haven't and are essentially still based on the old and outdated 22 episodes per season model)
• Vulture HBO has denied the IndieWire charges of what went down on Big Little Lies season 2 in terms of Andrea Arnold and the final edit
• The New Yorker another piece on Big Little Lies and its prescient season 1 finale and season 2 as a metaphor for the Hollywood fallout from #MeToo

After the jump Jennifer Lawrence, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, motion smoothing, Lord of the Rings casting, and more...

Click to read more ...

Remembering Rutger Hauer (1944-2019)

by Nathaniel R

"All those moments will be lost like tears in the rain."

Thus went the immortal words of Roy Batty, in Blade Runner (1982) as he breathed his last, betrayed by the cruel brevity of life. Rutger Hauer improvised one of cinema's all-time greatest death scenes when he was just 38. The actor, who turned 75 this past January, has now passed on, dying at his home in The Netherlands after a short illness.

Rutger Hauer first came to worldwide fame in 1973 as the star of Paul Verhoeven's Oscar-nominated sexually provocative Turkish Delight (the most successful Dutch film of all time). More buzzy international hits from his home country followed. Hollywood soon came calling as they usually do when someone who can speak English fluently has multiple imported hits...

Click to read more ...

YNMS: "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood"

by Lynn Lee

It’s here!  The trailer for the much-anticipated Mister Rogers movie, starring Tom Hanks as everyone’s favorite neighbor, dropped Monday…and a million Gen-Xers wept tears of pure nostalgia.  But what does the trailer reveal about the film that we didn’t already know?  Not a whole lot, as it turns out.  Let’s break it down...

Click to read more ...