The New Classics: The Wolf of Wall Street

By Michael Cusumano  

Scene: Quaaludes
It’s difficult not to lapse into hagiography when talking about Scorsese so I will simply say this and attempt to reign in the fawning as best I can: As much as anyone in the medium’s history he understands that the power of film isn’t in the text. It’s not in constructing an argument like an essay or a speech. It's in the images. 

Like all of Scorsese’s period pieces, The Wolf of Wall Street covers mountains of information in its headlong dash through the years, but what makes these films great are the moments when they distill all that material into a memorable frame. The technical gambling know-how makes you buy into the world of Casino, but it’s an overhead shot of a reckless Sharon Stone making it rain chips at the craps table that leaves a mark on the audience...

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How Mulan got the Rey Palpatine Treatment

by Ginny O'Keefe

After I watched Mulan (2020), the lackluster live-action remake of the beloved 1998 animated movie, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the bitterness and anger I felt after watching The Rise of Skywalker back in December. The feelings of disappointment and resentment were incredibly familiar, all stemming from the fact that both Mulan (2020) and The Rise of Skywalker (2019) refute the idea that a hero can be anyone and come from anywhere. This is where both films ultimately fail their two female leads. 

In the original animated film, Mulan is an ordinary girl who feels incredibly out of place and cannot seem to do right by her family or the deeply ingrained misogynistic society that surrounds her. She has no fighting skills, no hunger for war, no royal heritage, no outstanding measure of beauty. She has nothing that could suggest she is “special” besides her brave and kind heart...

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Showbiz History: Tommy Lee, Tom Hardy, and Mother!

7 random things that happened on this day in showbiz history...

1890: Agatha Christie born in Devon, England. She would become one of the world's most famous writers of all time. Over 70 (!!!) adaptations of her work have hit film and television over the years from as early as 1928 (a silent film called The Passing of Mr Quinn) to the forthcoming Death on the Nile in 2020. Only one of the adaptations was ever nominated for Best Picture though: Billy Wilder's take on Witness for the Prosecution (1957)...

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TCA and Dorian Awards go all in for the Emmy frontrunners

by Nathaniel R

The Television Academy has already begun their week long awards handout. The Creative Arts Emmys will run until the 17th and the Primetime Emmys wrap things up on the 20th.  With the Emmys upon us, the precursors have also come out to play. The TCA (Television Critics Association) and The Society for LGBTQ Entertainment Journalists, which hold the "Dorian Awards", have both recently announced their winners for the year and both loved on the Emmy frontrunners Watchmen and Schitt's Creek. Both organizations are stingy with acting honors, though, offering only two (in TCA's case) and four (at the Dorians), as opposed to Emmys 16 regular acting categories (barring voice and narration which would bring the number even higher). Couldn't there be a happy medium between 2-4 and 16+

The prizes are listed after the jump...

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Say No to the Blue Face - Jonathan Majors joins Ant-Man 3

by Ben Miller

Comic book movies can attract some high-class talent, and it looks like Lovecraft Country star Jonathan Majors is the latest to join the fray. Deadline is reporting Majors will join the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Kang the Conqueror in Ant-Man 3. The third installment of Marvel’s most light-hearted franchise isn’t expected to come out until 2022, but Majors will join Ant-Man vets Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly and Michael Douglas, alongside director Peyton Reed.  It is unknown whether TFE-pfavorite Michelle Pfeiffer will return...

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