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Chances are it will be. The COVID-19 pandemic, a relentless global assault via one of the most contagious flu-like viruses we’ve ever seen, is set for a wildly unpredictable outcome. It’s only been 3 weeks since the entire world started shutting down its businesses, including movie theaters, for an indefinite amount of time. The virus has since spread like wildfire to over 190 countries. Despite AMC Theatres’ CEO Adam Aron saying that he “would love to think that America will be enjoying summer movie season again” this year (via Deadline), he’s not being realistic....

Maybe it was a case of just unloading all the halted pandemic titles last year, or maybe there’s a lot of work to be done before we get back to normalcy in the industry, I don’t know. Of the 21 films vying for the Palme d’Or, I only really liked a little less than half the selection. Of note, the only title I missed was Kelly Reichardt’s “Showing Up,” which, weirdly enough, screened on the very last day....

According to THR, Hachette Book Group decided to give the rights back to Allen for his book, after the publishing company received backlash, which of course started with the Farrow clan (including Ronan Farrow), and reached a fever pitch when a massive walkout staged by its employees occurred. In a statement, the company said it was a “difficult” decision. Although some of the recent actors and actresses who have worked with Allen the last decade raised a spark akin to a domino effect in the industry, with Ellen Page, Greta Gerwig, Rebecca Hall, and Timothée Chalamet all expressing remorse in having worked with the director in the past, while others who have worked with Allen, such as Javier Bardem, Cate Blanchett, Diane Keaton, and Alec Baldwin refused to adhere to the mob mentality and condemn Allen....

Screening at Broadway’s Belasco Theater, the month-long screening is such an event that tickets are being scalped on StubHub for hundreds of dollars. Tickets for the showings of Scorsese’s opus were regularly priced for $17.50 plus tax and service charges, but since Belasco tickets are sold out for practically its entire 3-week engagement, many movie fans have had to turn to secondary markets to nab a golden ticket. At the high end, there’s a center balcony seat this Friday night for $94....

The gist of my dread came in the way he treated Clint Eastwood, who has been making movies with Warners for over 50 years now. It’s been one of the most trust-worthy and lasting director/studio friendships in the industry. Zaslav didn’t seem to give a damn about the partnership. A leaked conference call had Zaslav acting like this hotshot who would not flinch if he had to let go of Eastwood’s partnership with the studio....

In the article, Ryan states “There are heist movies before Heat, and heist movies after Heat.” OK, fair enough. He goes on to add “Heat ruined heist movies. Heat has taken on a kind of biblical importance. It’s so influential —in its visceral depiction of action and its mythical portrayal of cop and robber—that it’s almost impossible to even think about another heist movie without relating it back to Heat....

There will only ever be one Robin Williams, which means there can only be one Genie, because the two of them sync together as immaculately meta parallels. The Genie changed the entire tone of “Aladdin” once he was introduced in the film. The entertaining, albeit conventional setup the film had was sent into overdrive once he was rubbed out of the lamp by Aladdin. Now, imagine the chutzpah that Will Smith must have had to sign on to play the Genie in Disney’s upcoming live-action version of “Aladdin....

The absolutely focused and thrilling first 100 minutes of Trey Edward Shults‘ “Waves” are really something to see. Set in a rich suburb somewhere south of Miami, the film starts off as a frenetic, high-octane visually orgasmic statement on millennial angst and ends with a meditative, deeply focused account of an African-American family trying to cope with an unthinkable tragedy. Tackling the rummaging effects of toxic masculinity, Shults sets his story on 18-year-old Tyler (Kelvin Harrison, Jr....

It’s kind of surprising that of all the big titles being launched this fall, maybe, just maybe, only one will be doing the four major festivals (NYFF, TIFF, Venice and Telluride). I emailed around last night, trying to find anyone who might be able to confirm to me that Todd Field’s “TAR” will be doing the four majors. Absolute RADIO SILENCE. It’s quite possible it might be a late addition to TIFF and that would complete quadfecta for Field’s film....

Director Thomas Vinterberg was part of the Dogme 95 movement, which unearthed, among other people, Lars Von Trier. However, both filmmakers couldn’t be more different. Yes, Vinterberg employs the same shaky camerawork and improv-style dialogue as von Trier, but in a much more accessible and conventional fashion. Despite all that, Vinterberg has managed to give us two very good movies out of the eight he’s so far directed in his career: his 1998 debut “The Celebration” and 2013’s “The Hunt....

“This is how a narrative gets entrenched,” Harris complains. “There are those who are in, and those who are fighting to get in, and the implicit notion of a quota — the idea that there is one spot for ‘diversity’ — becomes a way of not looking at the performances.” I’ve used this analogy before but here goes: a good movie is a good movie is a good movie, or, in this case, replace the word “movie” with “performance....

“Better Call Saul” has become an indisputably great show and confirms Gilligan as one of the few visionaries who seems to have decided to concentrate the thick of his career on a central world in his storytelling. With all that being said, Giancarlo Esposito, who plays Gus Fring on ‘Saul,’ says that the end is near for the show. “It’s tricky with [co-creator Vince Gilligan],” Esposito told Collider. “If you look at the “Breaking Bad” model, he said five years, five seasons, but it was really five and six” with the split final season....

Pete Hammond has the inside scoop that there was an initial tsunami of votes for “Zack Snyder’s Justice League”, the original four-hour recut of the 2017 DCEU epic, even though it isn’t even eligible since it’s a director’s cut. Its only real competition during the first few days of voting was “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and the underseen Johnny Depp indie “Minamata.” Such a fiasco could prevent this ridiculous category from ever happening again....

Again, the film did NOT open in US theaters. What was the point of the Oscars changing the rules if they can just let this one slide? Now watch a few other films try this tactic. If you remember, this past May, the Academy announced its reversion to pre-pandemic rules that required one-week theatrical runs in one of six American cities. Searchlight somehow found a limp loophole excuse by telling the Academy it had made its release plans based on pandemic rules, not knowing how the theatrical world would shake out....

“Focus originally had Green Book, but Uni loved it, believing they could pull off a Blind Side-type of Thanksgiving success. Green Book doesn’t have this momentum, and unfortunately, winning the top prize at TIFF means nothing to general moviegoers. As we wrote before, Golden Globe noms are hopefully some form of a savior, but Uni has to keep Green Book in theaters throughout December.” Contribute Hire me Advertise Donate Team Contact Privacy Policy

According to Deadline, Apple TV+ bought the distribution rights to Hanks’ upcoming film, “Greyhound,” for $70 million. The Father’s Day theatrical release aligns very well with the film’s demographic. I’m sure AMC and Regal are not happy about this. “Greyhound” is directed by “Get Low” filmmaker Aaron Schneider and is based on a script by Hanks himself, who also stars in the WWII drama. The film is based on the life of George Krause and his ship The Destroyer as he commands it during the Battle of the Atlantic....

Ron Howard, a consummate professional who’s been going at it as a director now for four decades, aims to add to his Oscar-nominated filmography that includes the likes of “Apollo 13,” “Frost/Nixon” “A Beautiful Mind,” “Rush” and “Cinderella Man.” Howard is Hollywood royalty at this point, and the Netflix-backed “Hillbilly Elegy,” a family story based on Vance’s upbringing in rural Ohio, is destined to tug at the hearts of mainstream viewers looking for a feel-good drama in these dire days of pandemic blues....

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Reactions had trickled in from its NYC screening last week: Roger Friedman, Owen Gleiberman, CNN, Edward Douglas and others quite liked it. The reaction I gathered from a test-screening back in the summer was also semi-positive. Now that the review embargo has lifted today, this Whitney Houston biopic will clearly not save the movie year, no, far from it, it looks like a musical biopic in the same vein as “Bohemian Rhapsody,” but with far less Oscar prospects....

I was part of the crowd that thought “It” was incredibly well-made and built up a lot of tension, most of which didn’t rely on usual cheap jump scares. Muschietti has a decent amount of subtlety, he knows you need atmosphere-building to truly make a horror movie click. The Argentine-born director purposely sidesteps cliches in his movies by, quite meticulously, focusing on ingenious lighting, framing and timing. ‘It: Chapter Two’ was greenlit only a few weeks after the film’s September 2017 release....