Of course, as an agnostic Jew who wouldn’t go within 10 feet of Gibson unless I was wearing one of those padded bomb suits from “The Hurt Locker,” I’m not exactly the target audience for a movie that aspires to feel like a “Passion of the Christ” remake directed by David O. Russell (Wahlberg’s initial creative partner on the project, and a guy whose fingerprints are smudged all over the final product)....
Seriously, what else is there to say? Either you want to see a movie called “Fatman” that paints Santa Claus — played by the living embodiment of holiday cheer himself — as a moody Boomer who bemoans the good old days and sports a bushy gray bearded look that can only be described as “Blood Father Christmas” … or you don’t. The most gracious and open-minded response this yuletide aberration is the acknowledgement that there has to be a self-selecting audience out there for it somewhere....
Nevertheless, and in the spirit of its namesake, John Hoffman and Janet Tobias’ TV-ready “Fauci” marches forward as if nothing matters but the job at hand. The result is a fittingly sober and unflashy biodoc that’s far less engaging as a portrait of a public servant (brace for exclusive footage of Fauci drinking coffee in his kitchen) than it is as a testament to the values he’s embodied during his many decades of being America’s doctor....
Yes, attending press screenings and Oscars events are certainly a first-world problem that only critics have, but these issues are indicative of a worldwide problem. Disability access remains a problem in public spaces, and regardless of the strides we made during the pandemic, many of those accommodations were the first to be eliminated when the pandemic was deemed “over.” For me, it’s returning to in-person screenings when many of us would like the continued option of viewing movies at home, including people who may not be disabled, but are older, deaf, or hard of hearing....
“That’s good,” Wiseman said in a recent phone interview with IndieWire from his home in Paris. He was eager to catch people off-guard. “You know that old bromide of Emerson, ‘Consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds’? I don’t see why I need to be only categorized as a documentary filmmaker.” Now he’s setting the record straight: “A Couple” is one of the few Wiseman projects that was entirely staged....
Per Deadline, “The Cesar-winning actor was hospitalized Tuesday after suffering a head injury and has not survived, according to the actor’s family and local agent. The 37-year-old actor was transported by helicopter to a hospital in Grenoble following a collision on the slopes in the Savoie region.” Ulliel recently finished filming “Moon Knight,” the upcoming Disney+ series set to premiere on March 30. In the show, he stars as Midnight Man....
“It is presented very honestly, it isn’t tongue-in-cheek at all, and it’s played to the hilt,” Lucas said of the “Attack of the Clones” dialogue. “But it is consistent, not only with the rest of the movie, but with the overall ‘Star Wars’ style. Most people don’t understand the style of ‘Star Wars.’ They don’t get that there’s an underlying motif that is very much like a 1930s Western or Saturday matinee serial....
Carano revealed she had no idea Mark Hamill would be turning up to “The Mandalorian” set as Luke’s appearance was not included in the Season 2 finale script. It wasn’t until the day of filming that rumors started swirling around Hamill’s involvement with “The Mandalorian” Season 2. “I started finding out about it in the makeup trailer, basically because you’re like, ‘Oh wait, who’s that?’” Carano said. “And because they didn’t say it in the script…And then you know, everyone that has worked on ‘The Mandalorian’ is like an insane ‘Star Wars’ fan....
News of the “Minari” Best Picture shut out at the 2021 Golden Globes generated outrage on social media from film critics and Hollywood talent such as Wang, Daniel Dae Kim, and “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” star Simu Liu. As Wang put it in her reaction to the snub, “I have not seen a more American film than ‘Minari’ this year. It’s a story about an immigrant family, in America, pursuing the American dream....
In recent months, the HFPA has sworn they’ve straightened out and are flying right, revising bylaws, addressing organizational issues related to ethics and code of conduct, diversity, equity and inclusion, governance, and membership, and adding 21 new members, which the organization describes as its “most diverse class to date.” As to what has all this means in regards to the quality of the Golden Globe TV Awards — not much....
“Hold Your Fire” uncovers the untold story behind the longest hostage siege in New York Police Department history that also became the origin story of modern hostage negotiation. Director Stefan Forbes’ “Rashomon”-esque examination of policing in America, told from a triad of conflicting perspectives, arrives as the country finds itself amid a relitigating of the historically volatile relationship between police and African American communities. In January 1973, a fatal 47 hours at John and Al’s Sporting Goods store in Brooklyn began when four young Black men — Shuaib Raheem, Salih Abdullah, Dawud Rahman, and Yusef Almussidig — were cornered by the NYPD after they attempted to steal guns and ammunition....
Earlier this summer, Sundance announced a series of layoffs and consolidations in reaction to the financial hits endured during the pandemic. While the organization announced it would be restructuring some of its labs and associated programs, the creation of a brand-new fellowship is especially exciting. Last month, the organization also announced its latest group of 10 young filmmakers selected for the yearlong Sundance Ignite x Adobe fellowship, of which Adobe is also a founding supporter....
“As someone who considers herself a pretty dependent person, I’m truly honored to host the Film Independent Spirit Awards,” said Villaseñor in an official statement. Added Film Independent President Josh Welsh, “We’re thrilled to welcome Melissa Villaseñor into the club of smart, funny film lovers to host the Spirit Awards. The time to laugh has definitely arrived, and not a moment too soon.” Said Blake Callaway, Executive Director, IFC and SundanceTV in a nod to the host’s wide-ranging knack for celebrity impressions, “Melissa and the unique circumstances of now will make this year’s ceremony like no other....
The dangers hardly stop there: Malgorzata Szumowska’s “Infinite Storm” is an unusual reminder that such an approach also runs the risk of provoking the exact opposite effect. Remarkable as the true story behind this emotionally detached survival drama might be, the non-fiction label it staples to itself during the opening credits steels viewers for an urgency that never develops, and limits them to a strictly literal interpretation of a rescue attempt that resonated with people because of its rather non-literal definition of what rescuing someone might entail....
“It was unbelievably negative, I have to say,” McWilliams said about the reaction to Craig’s casting. “The press response was awful and I felt so sorry for him, but in a funny kind of a way I think it almost spurred him on to do his damndest to prove everybody wrong. The whole way through the film, stuff would come out about [how] he couldn’t walk and talk, he couldn’t run, he couldn’t drive a car properly, so much stuff which was completely and utterly untrue....
The Academy Award winner revealed that during the 13-year gap between 2009’s history-making “Avatar” and this year’s sequel, “Avatar: The Way of Water” premiering December 16, he scrapped an entire script. “When I sat down with my writers to start ‘Avatar 2,’ I said we cannot do the next one until we understand why the first one did so well. We must crack the code of what the hell happened,” Cameron told The Times UK about navigating a follow-up to the massive blockbuster sci-fi fantasy film starring Zoe Saldana and Sam Worthington....
After joking that he cut himself off from the internet and electronics over the past week and asking if he “missed any news,” Corden explained to his audience that he was banned and unbanned in record time from the New York restaurant Balthazar for comments he made to the staff. According to Corden, the comment about how he could have made the food himself came “in the heat of the moment” after his wife was served an order containing ingredients she was allergic to....
Earlier in June, TikTok user Kim Saira called out Corden for showing insensitivity toward Asian cultures (via Insider). Her call to action inspired her to create a Change.org petition, which currently has more than 44,000 signatures. As Saira explained to Today, “I noticed that one of the foods that he presented to someone was balut (a fertilized duck egg that is boiled and eaten from the shell), and balut is like, very specific to Filipino culture,” she said....
Chastain appears in one brief scene, speaking to children at the prestigious Kew-Forest School in New York City. She gives a speech steeped in conservative rhetoric, lecturing the wealthy students on the value of hard work and ambition. She is accompanied by Fred Trump, Donald’s father, who reappears at the end of the film. The scene was inspired by a real speech that Maryanne Trump gave at the school when Gray was a student there....
Born and raised in Brooklyn, Walter attended New York City’s High School of Performing Arts (now called Laguardia) and further studied acting at the famed Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre. She began her career on Broadway, starring in productions such as “Advise and Consent,” Neil Simon’s “Rumors,” “A Severed Head,” “Nightlife,” “Tartuffe,” “The Royal Family,” and “Photo Finish.” Her earliest prominent film role came in 1971’s “Play Misty for Me,” in which her performance as a young woman with Borderline Personality Disorder earned her a Golden Globe nomination....
