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2. “The Irishman” After watching Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman” at its New York City premiere, I knew how immense the whole thing was. I knew what I had witnessed was some-kind-of masterpiece. And yet, it felt cold and distant, a sort of eulogy to a bygone era. I now know that my initial emotional impressions were actually just confirming what the film was about. It’s titular protagonist, Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro), is a depressing and underwhelming person who is undeserving of hoopla or admiration and who deserves unadorned grievous dismissal....

The awards show’s top honchos have announced that, starting in 2023, the acting prizes will go gender-neutral, merging the male and female acting categories into one. “We’re thrilled to join the other festivals and award shows that are already moving to celebrate great acting without reference to gender,” Film Independent president Josh Welsh said in a statement. “We’re also happy to welcome non-binary performers into the Spirit Awards without forcing them to choose to identify as male or female....

There will be lots of Cannes titles, some from Venice and a few low-key TIFF world premieres. Peter Farrelly’s “The Greatest Beer Run” is expected to be announced, but will it be the biggest world premiere in tomorrow’s slate? The entire lineup is said to be revealed during the first week of August, presumably a Tuesday. There’s also a good chance a bunch of big Venice films skip TIFF this year, that’s all I’m saying....

I wrote back in October of 2019: Make no mistake about it: John Wayne was not, by any means, a bleeding heart liberal. However, given the shocking reaction from many this past week, stemming from old comments Wayne gave more than four decades ago, it seems like progressive millennials really thought The Duke was one of their own. Exhibit A: USC students now want a USC School of Cinematic Arts Wayne exhibit canceled....

Goldman’s apex moment will forever be his incisive and breathtaking script for 1976’s “All the President’s Men.” The other Goldman masterwork is “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.” He was also a novelist, writing “Marathon Man,” “The Princess Bride” for both the page and the screen. That, in essence, is the legend that Goldman has left behind. Towering. Other works of his included “The Stepford Wives,” “Misery,” “Chaplin,” and “A Bridge Too Far,” among many more....

Europe seems to have had no problem with the film, as it’s already opened in France, Portugal, Austria, Germany, U.K, Norway, Sweden Poland, Lithuania, Greece, Netherlands, Turkey, France, Czech Republic, Italy, Spain, and Mexico. However, the wokest countries in the world (the U.S, and the U.K.) decided to abstain and boycott Allen’s latest. You see, Woody is still toxic to the woke tyrannicals in these countries. However, thanks to Signature Entertainment, the UK-based home release distributor, it appears that the U....

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Deadline‘s Anthony D’Alessandro: “We can’t ignore the small start of UA/Annapurna’s Booksmart, which is bound to see $7.8M over four days. The movie looked like a female Superbad, but more indie. Great reviews and solid exits, but no one is taking the time out over the holiday weekend to see it. Saturday’s $2.1M ticket sales were down 16% from Friday. Smart, R-rated, critically acclaimed teenage girl pics remain a tough sub-genre....

“Set between the end of WWII and the beginning of the Vietnam war, this adaptation of Donald Ray Pollock’s psychological thriller-esque novel by “Christine” Director Antonio Campos follows the stories of various people who have suffered at the hands of post-war society.” Campos’ film will be released by Netflix on September 16th. The streaming giant couldn’t care less about delaying titles due to the pandemic, they are relentless in the amount of streaming content they have greenlit for release these past few months....

In “The Tax Collector,” Ayer returns to familiar territory with a smaller-scaled L.A. tale, albeit one that, on paper, should be more than welcomed after his last two critically reviled pictures “Suicide Squad “ Netflix’s “Bright.” However, this grim bloodbath feels all-too rote as it tackles the plight of two gangland tax collectors played by Bobby Boto and Shia LaBeouf. Shot with a keen visual eye for gutter poetry by Salvatore Totino, “The Tax Collector” follows David (Soto) and his sidekick Creeper (LaBeouf, miscast) as they oversee and collect a weekly tally of protection money from 43 different L....

So, what gives? The Wrap has confirmed the Endgame URL owner has the twitter feed @AGuyInChair and is holding it hostage until Marvel gives him tickets to the “Avengers: Endgame” premiere. He adds that if Marvel doesn’t bow to his demands, he plans to redirect the URL to Warner Bros.’ “Shazam” website. “Shazam” is part of the DC Extended Universe, which is Marvel’s rival in the superhero game. The URL owner has the rights to not only www....

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Sony Pictures chairman Tom Rothman said Wednesday in a statement “Bloodshot,” which opened last Friday to an estimated $9.3 million, is based on the Valiant Entertainment comic book and stars Diesel as a U.S. soldier manipulated into carrying out a series of assassinations for billion-dollar tech. Universal got the ball rolling last Monday when they announced they would be releasing their theatrical releases for February and March (“The Invisible Man,” “Emma,” and “The Hunt) to VOD this coming Friday....

My review can read here. “Cam" will premiere on Netflix November 16th. Contribute Hire me Advertise Donate Team Contact Privacy Policy

Director Asif Kapadia’s chronicle of the life and times of the controversial soccer/football athlete was seen by yours truly at the Cannes Film Festival this past May, although it was sadly not reviewed. This is an excellent document tackling an intricate and very flawed man. Using archival footage and interviews to tell the story of one of the greatest soccer-football players of all-time, Kapadia’s doc captures the rise and outrageous fall of one of the sport’s worlds most famous legends....

Filmmaker Craig Brewer directs ‘Dolemite’ which is a biopic of real-life actor Rudy Ray Moore, a man who ended up creating the famous cinematic blaxploitation character Dolemite in the 1970s. Murphy seems to have loved his experience with Brewer so much that he probably pulled a few strings to have Brewer direct his upcoming “Coming to America” sequel as well. As seen in the first trailer for “Dolemite Is My Name,” Murphy plays the struggling actor who created the martial artist pimp character Dolemite for the screen....

Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross are scoring this one as well. This has Best Picture and Best Actress potential written all over it. Toby Jones’ monologue is a little too schmaltzy. During a time when the future of cinema is being debated you have filmmakers like Steven Spielberg, Sam Mendes and Kenneth Branagh making films about how they fell in love with the medium. Of course, with Mendes you just never know what you’re going to get....

’The Fabelmans’ should have a domestic total by Sunday evening of about $5.8 million, all of this on a budget of $40 million. This is exactly why Universal has decided to quickly release ‘Fabelmans’ on VOD in 10 days time. Many are asking themselves if Spielberg is still a draw in what is fast becoming a dry market for prestige awards fare. His 2021 “West Side Story” remake barely made a dent as well — 20th Century is said to have lost upwards of $20 million on that film....

From my review on 9.16.18: “The absorbing lure of the movie, the climactic, terror-provoking Yosemite climb itself, is overwhelming and worth the wait. With Vasarhelyi and Chin’s cameras strategically located to capture everything for maximum harrowing, cinematic effect, once the vertiginous ascension begins, in the last 20 or so minutes of the film, hold on to your seats: “Free Solo” turns out to be one of the most breathlessly thrilling sequences one will ever experience in a theater....