The Link With Two Brains

• Vulture Kathleen Turner in conversation, dishing on Burt Reynolds, William Hurt, Eileen Atkins and more. I had no idea that she didn't like Elizabeth Taylor! That's insane but Turner is always good for a blurb. So frank and funny. 
• Parade 10 Steve Martin quotes to brighten your day on his birthday
• Variety Ruby Rose is the latest actress to quit her social media after online trolling. This time a bizarre she's not gay enough to play a gay character or some nonsense (even though she's been out for years!). When will the madness end and why do we live in such a mean world?

 

• MNPP the trailer to Gaspar Noe's latest provocation, Climax
• Slate a round up of all the shark jokes people made while reporting on The Meg
• Film School Rejects Netflix's original film slate for the last few months of this year. It's stacked. 
• Variety an update of sorts on that Fan Bingbing rumor we told you about. Is China banning her from acting for 3 years?
• Variety should the Emmys have even more categories? Acting categories too often combine very disparate skills.
• /Film Neill Blomkamp (District 9) is directing a sequel to Robocop, ignoring the other sequels apparently, and he wants Peter Weller to return as star. 
• Variety Instant Family, a comedy starring Rose Byrne and Mark Wahlberg moved up from 2019 to a November bow this year
• i09 Jeff Goldblum jigsaw puzzles!
• Coming Soon Train to Busan, the Korean zombie hit, is getting a sequel 

Exit Video
It's another teaser for Matthew Weiner's new series The Romanoffs. I'm soooo excited for this because I love Weiner AND I have no idea what to expect really even after watching this. Looks like the kind of show that might have instant takes which prove incredibly wrongheaded once you see the show develop. 

Netflix in August: The Aviator, Her, Silverado

Time to play Streaming Roulette. Each month, to survey new streaming titles we freeze frame the films at random places with the scroll bar and whatever comes up first, that's what we share!

Remember when Netflix used to get recent movies and classics? Now they seem to be exclusively in the business of streaming things that are between 5-20 years old only... with the obvious exception of their original programming, cheap foreign tv series, and straight to streaming indie stuff that wasn't cut out for theatrical.

LYRA!

The Golden Compass (2007)
Have you ever read this book? It's fantastic and bold. The movie is sadly a compromised rendition but it's still a bit tragic that they didn't finish filming the trilogy. Nicole Kidman was a sensaysh "Mrs Coulter" at least. Whatever happened to Dakota Blue Richards? Remember what a surprise it was when this one beat the first Transformers movie to the Visual FX Oscar?!

Click to read more ...

Roma Takes New York

by Jason Adams

Set your calendars - the New York Film Festival is a mere seventy-two days away now! Running from September 28 to October 14 the 56th edition of my hometown's biggest fanciest movie celebration has just made its first programming announcement - this year's Centerpiece Film will be Alfonso Cuarón’s black-and-white autobiographical epic Roma! 

The movie charts the course of a family over the course of a year in middle-class Mexico City in the 1970s, and even though that seems straightforward it sounds like Cuarón is still experimenting with movie technology - NYFF promises that the film features "a sound design that represents something new in the medium." Well I'm curious!

Roma is owned by Netflix and got pushed out of consideration by Cannes because of their cantankerous relationship with the streamer - NYFF has no such qualms, having screened both Mudbound and The Meyerowitz Stories just last year, so we'll be some of the lucky movie-goers who see Cuarón's vision on a great big screen, lucky lucky us.

Netflix in July: Troy's Straight-Washing, Blue Valentine's Brilliance.

Time to play Streaming Roulette. Each month, to survey new streaming titles we freeze frame the films at random places with the scroll bar and whatever comes up first, that's what we share!

July is kind of a quiet month on Netflix but which of these films will you be streaming for the first time or as a rewatch? Which do you have strong feelings about. Please do tell us in the comments. Ready? Let's go...

ARE YOU CRAZY?!? IF I CAN'T PULL MY CHUTE, YOU'LL DIE TOO!

Get Smart (2008)
Despite being an Anne Hathaway disciple I have not seen this. Worth a watch? Anyone? 

Hey, can I ask you something else: What's the story of that girl that was in here a month ago? 

Blue Valentine (2010)
Ryan Gosling is visiting his grandma because he's a sweet soul. I especially love the editing here. The image cuts to this for the rest of the visiting grandma dialogue...

Click to read more ...

Netflix in June: Blue Jasmine Ragnarok, and Baby Sebastian Stan!

Time to play Streaming Roulette. Each month, to survey new streaming titles on Netflix and other services, we freeze frame the films at random places with the scroll bar and whatever comes up first, that's what we share -- no cheating!  Which of these films will you be streaming this month for the first time or as a rewatch? Which would you like to see covered at TFE? Please do tell us in the comments. 

Ready? Let's go...

-OPEN THE DOOR, BITCH!

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (2008)
Oh I hearted this movie at the time. I fell so hard for Ari Graynor and I'm always pissed her career didn't truly explode. She shoulda been a leading lady in major comedies immediately. She's still around of course but where is the big career this hilarious turn foretold? (Pssst. She's not Nick or Norah but she's what I remember about the movie. Is she Infinite?)   

His mother was kind enough to send this back to us.

The Covenant (2006)
Howcuuuuuuute it's baby Sebastian Stan! I had completely forgotten this movie existed...

Click to read more ...