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...

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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(the television landscape is changing but pay structures haven't and are essentially still based on the old and outdated 22 episodes per season model)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...

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The Lion King's Leftovers

What did you see this weekend? Disney's photorealistic animated remake of the animated classic was all the rage as audiences stampeded to theaters like a herd of wildebeests. Though the numbers below are just estimates it's accounting for about 72% of the nation's box office. Insanity. Next time you hear someone complaining about 'Hollywood running out of ideas' check how many of Disney's recent remakes they've seen before taking them seriously.

Weekend Box Office Estimates July 19th-21st  🔺 = New or Expanding / ★ = Highly Recommended
W I D E	PLATFORM / SPECIALTY TITLES
The Lion King	The Farewell
1 🔺 The Lion King  $185 *new*	1 🔺 The Farewell $1.1 (cum. $1.6) REVIEW, INTERVIEW ★

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Retcon this, link

• Vulture are Spider-Man Far From Home and Call Me By Your Name the same film? (hilarious read)
• IndieWire upsetting account of turmoil behind the scenes of Big Little Lies season 2 as Andrea Arnold's vision was thrown aside during post-production. Well, we knew it didn't feel like an Arnold production so here's why
• Hard Drive "J.K. Rowling reveals that you, the reader, were gay all along" (this is a few months old but I LOL'ed so much I had to share icymi) 

more after the jump including Mindhunter, Disney's global dominance, Jack Reynor and Gus Kenworthy...

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Mulan Teases. Maleficent Flies Again.

by Nathaniel R

It isn't enough for Disney that they have the top four box office hits of the year thus far (Endgame, Captain Marvel, Aladdin, and Toy Story 4) with The Lion King still on the way to make it a top five. No, they'd now like to remind you that they still have movies coming in 2019 and will also be dominating 2020. In the past 24 hours or so Maleficent: Mistress of Evil got another trailer and Mulan delivered its first teaser and poster. That's all after the jump...

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