Posted on Monday, February 22nd, 2016 by Ethan Anderton
Which super villain is Ward turning into on Agents of SHIELD? How long is Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice? Who think that Captain America: Civil War will get nominated for Best Picture? How did they pull off the mask effects and more for Deadpool? All that and more in this edition of Superhero Bits. Read More »
Posted on Monday, February 22nd, 2016 by Jack Giroux
It’s a shame the buzz hasn’t picked up much for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Bad timing hurt the first teaser, which was released the week we saw the immensely satisfying Star Wars: The Force Awakens teaser. The footage revealed at Comic Con was an improvement, but the third trailer was a tonal mess. The reveal of Doomsday didn’t help matters. The fourth trailer we recently saw raised expectations for some.
By this point, we’ve seen quite a bit of footage from Zack Snyder‘s superhero showdown, so, of course, someone cut it all together. Watch the video below.
Posted on Monday, February 22nd, 2016 by Ethan Anderton
Not too long ago, we found out that the Taken TV series in development at NBC had rounded up TV director Alex Graves (Game of Thrones, The Newsroom, The West Wing) to be at the helm of the pilot for the prequel story that will show us how Bryan Mills (the character originated by Liam Neeson in the film franchise) acquired his particular set of skills. And now that TV series has a leading man to step into Neeson’s shoes.
Vikings star Clive Standen has landed the lead role of Bryan Mills in the Taken TV series cast. But remember that this series will be set in modern day, but still follows a young version of the character before he would ever have to deal with his daughter and wife (and eventually himself) getting kidnapped. Find out more below. Read More »
Posted on Monday, February 22nd, 2016 by Ethan Anderton
We’re living in the age of nostalgia and recycling when it comes to our entertainment. Over at Netflix, there are revivals of Full House and The Gilmore Girls while Fox is working on a TV series adaptation of Lethal Weapon. On the big screen, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Jurassic World and Mad Max: Fury Road revived franchises that were dead in movie theaters for over a decade. And if one man has his way, he’ll get another franchise to rise from the grave.
Back in the early ’90s, during what was one of the more popular times for Saturday Night Live, cast members Mike Myers and Dana Carvey brought their recurring characters Wayne Campbell and Garth Algar to the big screen for a Wayne’s World movie in 1992. It was successful enough to warrant a Wayne’s World 2 in 1993. And since then, Trevor Schindeler has been desperate to make Wayne’s World 3 a reality, going so far as you write his own script, tirelessly trying to get it read by Hollywood. Now he’s asking for your help. Read More »
Posted on Monday, February 22nd, 2016 by Jacob Hall
Douglas Slocombe, the legendary cinematographer best known for shooting the Indiana Jones trilogy for director Steven Spielberg, has passed away at 103. Although his most well-known films came at the end of his career, Slocombe’s filmography is a masterclass in film craft, showcasing an artist and a technician who knew his way around all genres and made it look easy.
Posted on Monday, February 22nd, 2016 by Angie Han
It’s no secret that filmmaking tends to be a boys’ club. Just today, USC released a study of 109 movies put out by major studios in 2014; just 3.4% of movie directors represented were female. But it’s a mistake to overlook or ignore the major contributions women have made to the medium, as evidenced by this elegant video essay of the best female-directed films of all time. The titles were pulled from a survey of 50 critics, and they all sorts of genres and topics across seven decades. Watch “The 20 Greatest Films by Women Directors” after the jump.
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Posted on Monday, February 22nd, 2016 by Jack Giroux
A few months ago we got our first look at actor Nicholas Hoult in Kill Your Friends. In the John Niven adaptation, Hoult plays an A&R man, Steven Stelfox, who literally starts killing off the competition. A story about a young, handsome, murderous and successful businessman is bound to draw comparisons to American Psycho, which this Kill Your Friends trailer actually embraces.
Watch the newest trailer for Owen Harris‘ feature directorial debut.
Posted on Monday, February 22nd, 2016 by Jacob Hall
On paper, Triple 9 sounds like familiar territory, another story of corrupt cops butting heads with police officers and crooks alike. But if you place John Hillcoat in the director’s chair, I’m suddenly very interested. And if you then place Casey Affleck, Woody Harrelson, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Kate Winslet, Anthony Mackie, Norman Reedus, Gal Gadot, and Aaron Paul in front of the camera, you’ve just sold a ticket.
A new batch of Triple 9 clips have arrived on the the heels of those very intense trailers and posters, just in case you need some additional convincing that a crime film with that line-up deserves to be on your radar. Whether it’s ultimately good or bad remains to be seen, but there’s no way this movie is boring.
Posted on Monday, February 22nd, 2016 by Jacob Hall
Like all art, film changes with the times and it is the duty of every serious connoisseur to track these changes, to absorb them. And while the year in which a film was made can be given away by everything from actor to film stock to cultural references, visual effects remain the fastest way to establish when a film was produced. Matte paintings and rear projection have given way to green screens and handmade creatures have given way to motion capture, but visual effects have been an effective tool (and occasionally a crutch) since the birth of cinema.
A new supercut has put together clips from every film to win the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects and it’s a very fun watch, encapsulating nearly a century of Hollywood filmmaking and craft into less than ten minutes. Watch closely and can you can see the moments when pop culture shifts forever.