The Angel Studios show, focusing on the life and times of Jesus Christ, started off as a crowdfunded endeavour three years ago, now it’s competing against the big boys at the box-office and embarrassing the big Hollywood titles. The budget for these two episodes is said to be around $2 million. “The Chosen” is set to make $10 million in its opening weekend. Meanwhile, “She Said” could only muster up $2 million....

The critics have now chimed in today. A 48 on Metacritic and 49% on Rotten Tomatoes. BAD! Especially for a $200 million budgeted movie, and the talent involved. What’s the deal here? Why is every Netflix action blockbuster so terrible? It’s more than likely that they need to adhere to a dumbed-down subscriber demographic, how else would you explain “Red Notice,” “Bright,” “Spencer Confidential,” “The Man From Toronto,” “6 Underground,” “Army of the Dead” etc....

“The Humans” has Erik Blake (Richard Jenkins) gathering three generations of his Pennsylvania family to celebrate Thanksgiving at his daughter’s new lower Manhattan apartment. Pent up frustrations start to be stirred up. Erik’s wife (Jayne Houdyshell) continuously yaps about the most inane things, as their daughter Aimee (Amy Schumer) is still reeling over a breakup and her sister Brigid (Beanie Feldstein) brings over her new beau, Richard (Steven Yuen), to meet the family, As day turns to night, eerie things start to occur in the apartment; doors randomly creak, lights flicker on/off and loud thuds are heard....

“Crazy Heart,” “Out of the Furnace,” “Hostiles,” “Antlers” and “Black Mass” all disappointed me. There’s a classicism to Cooper’s style that either you go along with or you don’t. I find many of his films to just be flat out boring, both visually and narratively. Reviews for Cooper’s “The Pale Blue Eye” are out: 53 on Metacritic and 58% on Rotten Tomatoes. The problem, I think, with this film is that it revolves around a mystery that you just don’t much care about....

Alas, here were are, the last edition of the Cannes Film Festival has been foregone for 6 months now, but maybe the reason why we haven’t heard so much about “The Wild Pear Tree," Ceylan’s latest oeuvre, is because it was screened on the last day of the festival, as a late-minute addition. Which is also why I didn’t file anything on it as the next day I was on a plane back home....

With “Widows” McQueen enters the realm of mainstream filmmaking. Distributed by 21st Century Fox, the film is a genre film that can sometimes bite more than it can chew, but that’s part of its charm. With “Widows” McQueen tries to bend the cliches backward and invent a new kind of heist picture, one unlike anything we’ve ever seen before, and the results are mostly positive. In debt because of their dead husbands’ criminal activities as high-end robbers, and hunted by the mobsters (led by a terrifying Daniel Kaluuya), three women, played by Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, and Elizabeth Debicki, try to pull off a daring heist to pay back the hustlers that are after them....

Timothee Chalamet plays Wonka in yet another spinoff of “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory”. The big lure for me here sure isn’t Chalamet, but King, who made those two fantastic “Paddington” movies. This is supposed to be a prequel to ‘Charlie,’ tackling the early life of Willy Wonka. The rest of the cast is noteworthy: Sally Hawkins, Olivia Colman, Rowan Atkinson, Hugh Grant and Keegan Michael-Key. Back to Chalamet, I know it’s absolutely sacrilege to say this, but he’s really not impressed me so far as an actor....

Shot on 65mm, with striking cinematography from Academy Award-nominee Darius Khondji, the film is said to be a semi-autobiographical account of the Mexican filmmaker’s roots in Mexico. Cue in the “Roma” comparisons. Netflix was lacking a big contender this year for Oscar contention; Andrew Dominik’s “Blonde” and Noah Baumbach’s “White Noise” seem more poised for critical attention than any kind of Academy love. Deadline actually has an exclusive plot synopsis: As reported on 09....

I wrote on April 6th: “The impending, maybe even inevitable, closure of AMC theaters all around the country would be a devastating blow to the theatrical experience in the United States. At this present time, it is inevitable for AMC to demand some kind of bailout. According to Subscription Inside, AMC reported a $5 billion-plus deficit in 2019 and losses of $149 million for the year. “ More to come … Contribute Hire me...

As we speak, the current contenders in the Actress category are Frances McDormand (“Nomadland”), Viola Davis (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”), Carey Mulligan (“Promising Young Woman”), Kate Winslet (“Ammonite”), Vanessa Kirby (“Pieces of a Woman”), and Andra Day (“The United States vs. Billie Holiday”). That’s about it. Maybe Michelle Pfeiffer (“French Exit”) may sneak in there somewhere, but the film she’s in is a little too slight for its own liking — I wouldn’t count on it....

An American producer had told me at Cannes that “Disappointment Blvd” clocked in at 210 minutes and that Aster didn’t want to cut a single minute of it, much to A24’s chagrin. We should start a hashtag about this. I’ve seen a few people use #ReleaseTheAsterCut on Twitter, maybe that‘s the way to go. Regardless, A24 needs to release every single minute of Aster’s vision. It’ll turn into a primal movie event for cinephiles nationwide....

The film has now made $7M total at the box-office. Universal won’t come anywhere close to the $38M domestic “West Side Story” grossed (and that was considered by many to be a “bomb”). “The Fabelmans” has a budget of around $40 million. I don’t know if these numbers were affected by the fact that “The Fabelmans” will be readily available on VOD this coming Tuesday. What should not have worked against it was the fact that critics loved it, Oscar buzz is still strong and there has been lots of press surrounding Spielberg’s personal story....

Of course, Brad still remains the talented one in the family. However, one google search on Doug and you come to the sudden realization that why need Oscars and fame when you’re the goddamn Ambassador to Tanzania! [Source]. One would think that being Brad Pitt’s brother would render you as the “underachiever of the family,” however, Doug isn’t only a well-respected ambassador but he is also described as a “successful tech entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist....

The famously bratty — and ultra annoying— Xavier Dolan was, shall we say, not the most well-liked juror in Cannes history. If you remember, he was part of the 2015 jury that bewilderingly gave the Palme to Jacques Audiard’s “Dheepan.” Dolan became this very annoying presence to his fellow jurors and subsequently vetoed what was going to be a near-unanimous Palme d’Or win for Todd Haynes’ masterful “Carol.” He blocked what would have surely been one of the most deserving Palme winners in recent years....

Terrence Malick‘s “Radegund,” Jim Jarmusch‘s “The Dead Don’t Die” and Pedro Almodovar‘s “Pain and Glory” are all confirmed for Cannes ’19 competition. In addition, Hirokazu Kore-eda‘s “The Truth” (Juliette Binoche, Ethan Hawke) is being touted as a possible opening night movie. [via French magazine Satellifax] In addition, the always-reliable Cédric Succivalli has confirmed the above: BEST BETS: BACURAU | Kleber Mendonça Filho & Juliano DornellesPORTRAIT DE LA JEUNE FILLE EN FEU | Céline SciammaPAIN AND GLORY | Pedro AlmodóvarRADEGUND | Terrence MalickOH MERCY | Arnaud DesplechinABOUT ENDLESSNESS | Roy Andersson AHMED | Jean-Pierre & Luc DardenneSIBYL | Justine TriteWILD GOOSE LAKE | Diao Yi’nanPARASITE | Bong Joon-hoEMA | Pablo LarraínTHE BEANPOLE | Kantemir BalagoIL TRADITORE | Marco BellocchioSORRY WE MISSED YOU | Ken LoachIT MUST BE HEAVEN | Elia SuleimanFRANKIE | Ira SachsONE SECOND | Zhang YimouTHE DEAD DON´T DIE | Jim JarmuschMANOR HOUSE | Cristi PuiuMATTHIAS & MAXIME | Xavier DolanUNE FILLE FACILE | Rebecca Zlotowski THE WHISTLERS | Corneliu PorumbuiuONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD | Quentin TarantinoFIRE NEXT TIME | Marti Diop TBD: AD ASTRA | James GrayJEANNE | Bruno DumontWAITING FOR THE BARBARIANS | Ciro Guerra GLORIA MUNDI | Robert Guédiguian LA CORDILLÈRE DES SONGES | Patricio Guzmán WICKED GAMES | Ulrich Seidl MIENTRAS DURE LA GUERRA | Alejandro AmenabarWENDY | Benh ZeitlinFIRST COW | Kelly ReichardtTHE LIGHTHOUSE| Robert EggersWAVES | Trey Edward Shults2019 | Lav DiazRADIOACTIVE | Marjane SatrapiCOOK, FUCK, KILL | Mira FornayGUEST OF HONOR | Atom EgoyanETRE VIVANT ET LE SAVOIR | Alain CavalierC’EST EXTRA | Guillaume Nicloux LE DAIM | Quentin DupieuxTHE THOUSAND MILES | Sylvain Chomet Contribute Hire me...

Fitness influencer Sylwia (Magdalena Koleśnik), with close to 600,000 Instagram followers, oozes an artificial facade of contentment in her videos. She has endorsement deals, photo spreads in magazines etc. Alas, don’t judge a book by its cover, what this spirited blonde also has is deep insecurities and, drumroll please, a stalker who parks his car in front of her residence and masturbates to her. There are are hints of a better and more profound movie in “Sweat,” but it just doesn’t say anything new about fame; it’s a glossy and safe portrayal of the artifice that comes in creating a successful social media personality, but we are left asking ourselves “what was the point of it all?...

Here is an original review from 1942. One thing people tend to not mention about “Casablanca” is what a cynical movie it is. It was made at a time when it was a sure thing that the Nazis were going to lose WWII. And so, it’s thematic resonances lie in its depictions of lost love, lost chances and, above all else, resistance to the greater good. Fully filmed in the Warner Bros....

Costume designer Ellen Mirojnick confirmed on a podcast that “Oppenheimer” will span 45 years. Purely a guess, but I bet it’ll tackle J. Robert Oppenheimer’s first days in Cambridge (1923) up to his death (1967). The teaser for Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” was released in July. The Black and White looked sumptuous. “Oppenheimer” is said to have a budget of around $100 million. It’ll also be interesting to see just how much of “Oppenheimer” will be shot in IMAX analog black and white by Nolan and DP Hoyte Van Hoytema....

May 14:The Dead Don’t Die, Jim JarmuschMay 15Les Miseràbles, Ladj LyBacurau, KMF + Juliano DornellesMay 16Atlantique, Mati DiopSorry We Missed You, Ken LoachMay 17Little Joe, Jessica HausnerPain and Glory, Pedro AlmodóvarMay 18The Wild Goose Lake, Diao YinanThe Whistlers, Corneliu PorumboiuMay 19Portait of a Lady on Fire, Celine SciammaA Hidden Life, Terrence MallickMay 20Young Ahmed, Jean Pierre and Luc DardenneFrankie, Ira SachsMay 21Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Quentin TarantinoParasite, Bong Joon HoMay 22Matthias et Maxime, Xavier DolanOh Mercy!...

Peele had won the 2017 mid-year poll with his debut, “Get Out.” Last year’s poll was won by Paul Schrader’s “First Reformed.” FULL LIST OF PARTICIPATING CRITICS Close to 140 critics submitted their picks this year, a record number for the fourth annual poll. Votes were fairly spread out among the 140 submitted lists, with about half of the top 20 movies produced outside of America. Participants included leading critics from IndieWire, Variety, USA Today, The A....