Posts

The Matrix: Reloaded Warner Bros. “The Matrix” sparked backlash when it was first released in Egypt. As the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports, several Islamic publications interpreted the film as supporting Zionism. Naturally, Egypt promptly banned its follow-up, “The Matrix: Reloaded,” as well, but the reasoning behind that decision is somewhat murkier. According to Variety, the country’s Department of Monitoring Artistic Products partially attributed the ban to “scenes of excessive violence,” which is a common red flag in Middle Eastern countries....

A Fistful Of Dollars’ Yojimbo Roots Convinced Clint Eastwood It Could Never Be Made In America Toho By Witney Seibold/Dec. 8, 2022 2:43 pm EST In Stuart Galbraith IV’s invaluable and exhaustive 2001 book “The Emperor and the Wolf: The Lives and Films of Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune,” the famed Japanese director talks briefly about Sergio Leone’s classic 1964 Western “A Fistful of Dollars.” Kurosawa admired the film saying that it was “a fine movie,” and hastened to add, “but it was my movie....

A Moment Of ‘Destiny’ Led To The Creation Of Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer Greycat Films By Danielle Ryan/Nov. 12, 2022 3:00 pm EST There are few movies quite like “Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer.” It’s a grim, gruesome horror film loosely based on the real-life serial killers Henry Lee Lucas and Otis Toole. The movie was given an X rating upon its release in 1986 for its intense, unrelenting violence, but it managed to become a cult classic on VHS....

Andor Is Treating A Classic Star Wars Villain Like A Regular Dude, And It’s Hilarious Lucasflm By Rafael Motamayor/Oct. 19, 2022 1:51 pm EST “Andor” is taking the “Star Wars” franchise to places we’ve never seen before. In a way, this is the rare “Star Wars” project that doesn’t feel like fantasy, but like actual sci-fi. Rather than a grand quest with a chosen one and magical powers, we get a grounded show with actual stakes and a focus on an ensemble fighting for a common cause against insurmountable odds....

Attack on Titan: Final Season Part 2 Release Date and Where You Can Watch It MAPPA Season 4 premiered on December 7, 2020. The first 16 episodes ran from December to late March, wrapping up just in time for the April 2021 conclusion of the manga that the anime is based on. The show’s official Twitter account confirmed at the time that “Attack on Titan” would conclude with one final half-season, which we now know will debut worldwide in January 2022 and be made available to stream on Crunchyroll....

Cool Stuff: New South Park Funko POP Collection Gets An Inappropriate Boy Band Back Together [Exclusive] Comedy Central and Funko By Ethan Anderton/Nov. 16, 2022 4:00 pm EST Today, Funko is hosting their “Popapalooza” virtual event where they unveil a bunch of new collectibles inspired by popular singers and bands. However, not all of these collectibles are focused on real-life musicians and singers. And that’s why we’re happy to debut a new collection of Funko POPs featuring one of the biggest musical sensations to come out of South Park, Colorado....

Disney Could Have Killed The Lord Of The Rings Before Production Even Began New Line Cinema By Andrew Housman/July 8, 2022 11:45 am EST “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy is perhaps one of the most successful gambles in box office history. The films were an incredibly ambitious passion project for director Peter Jackson, who had to fight to convince his producers that a live-action adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic fantasy classic was worth investing in....

French Stewart Improvised His Signature Squint For 3rd Rock From The Sun NBC By J. Gabriel Ware/Oct. 31, 2022 4:10 pm EST On NBC’s ’90s sci-fi sitcom “3rd Rock from the Sun,” four aliens land on Earth and assume human identities: Dick (John Lithgow), Sally (Kristen Johnson), Harry (French Stewart), and Tommy (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) pose as the Solomon family. Harry – and I’m trying my best to soften the language here — is the unintelligent one; he’s literally supposed to be the stupidest person in the universe....

Harrison Ford Insisted On Adding A Key Scene To The Mosquito Coast’s Screenplay Warner Bros. By Drew Tinnin/Dec. 1, 2022 3:29 pm EST What was the scene that Ford wanted in? A story about fathers Before writing the novel, Theroux befriended an American writer named Moritz Thomsen in Ecuador who regaled the author with horror stories about his abusive father. “His stories about his father were terrifying,” Theroux told The Ringer’s Tim Greiving....

‘This is about love’ Focus Features “Brokeback Mountain,” like the Annie Proulx short story of the same name from which it was adapted, centers on Ennis Del Mar (Ledger) and Jack Twist (Gyllenhaal), two young men who fall in love while herding sheep in the summer of 1963 on the fictional Brokeback Mountain in Wyoming. Over the next 20 years, the pair maintain a secret relationship with one another, even after they get married to women and have kids....

Heath Ledger Took A Simple Approach To The Love Scenes In Brokeback Mountain Focus Features By Matt Rainis/Nov. 2, 2022 3:58 pm EST When “Brokeback Mountain” came out in 2005, there had been very few explicitly queer films released by major studios in the United States. The story of two cowboys who develop an emotional and sexual relationship before returning home to continue living their false lives as straight men was a bit of a trailblazer, proving that queer stories could be both told and sold to a mainstream American audience....

Here’s Why Tron: Legacy Deserves More Love Walt Disney Pictures By Debopriyaa Dutta/Oct. 21, 2022 5:00 pm EST In 1982, director Steven Lisberger released “Tron,” which featured cutting edge (for the time) computer-generated graphics in a uniquely original futuristic storyline. There are many reasons why “Tron” is still listed as a pioneer in the sci-fi genre; Lisberger’s film was truly ahead of its time with its virtual universe setting along with a profound exploration of the creator-creation dynamic....

More budget, more problems Universal Pictures It looks like Peele’s taken full advantage of his growing budgets. Whereas “Get Out” had a small cast and took place almost entirely within a single location, “Us” was both more star-studded and larger in scale. “Nope” continues the trend, being described by critics not as a horror movie but as a “grand, sci-fi spectacle.” This has, however, been seen as cause for concern to some viewers who still consider “Get Out” his best work....

Lord Of The Rings Star Bernard Hill Thinks The Rings Of Power Was Made Purely For Profit Warner Bros. By Rafael Motamayor/Dec. 1, 2022 11:45 am EST Oh, Bernard Hill, Benny, mate. He might have been great in “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, he might have given one of the greatest movie speeches of all time, and Théoden King may be one of the best characters in a trilogy filled with incredible characters — but why, oh why does he have to publicly share his terrible takes?...

Marvel’s Agatha: Coven Of Chaos Casts Broadway Legend Patti LuPone Netflix By BJ Colangelo/Dec. 21, 2022 4:00 pm EST Never underestimate the power of Patti LuPone. The Broadway legend who recently shocked the world by dropping her membership with the Actor’s Equity union has been announced as the most recent cast member of the “WandaVision” spin-off, “Agatha: Coven of Chaos” for Disney+ (via Deadline). “WandaVision” was a huge hit for the streamer, and proved that Marvel TV shows had the power to be just as popular and well-scripted as the multi-million dollar blockbuster feature films....

Same old Schrader Bonnie Marquette It quickly becomes clear, though, that Edgerton’s Narvel Roth has plenty to atone for. This former neo-Nazi took many lives in his previous profession as a hitman for his ethno-nationalist encampment. He finds the only way out is to turn informant for law enforcement seeking to bust up his group. It’s never entirely clear how much Narvel disavows the ideology to which he once devoted himself or if he could simply no longer stomach the work....

1,000 ways to die Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Cary Grant’s Thornhill is one of the most-used types in Hitchcock pictures, an ordinary person out of their element, like Guy Haines in “Strangers on a Train” or the McKennas of “The Man Who Knew Too Much.” Thornhill cuts a diminutive silhouette against the vast midwest roadside, visually prompting the audience to speculate on how their intrepid hero might be dispatched. Drive-by shooting? A roadside stabbing?...

Rachel Weisz Put Her Faith In Keanu Reeves For One Of Constantine’s Most Intense Scenes Warner Bros. Pictures By Sarah Musnicky/Sept. 18, 2022 4:07 pm EST With the announcement that we’re finally getting a “Constantine” sequel, there’s no better time to revisit the original 2005 film. We follow John Constantine (Keanu Reeves), a suicide survivor who is destined for Hell once he dies for good. He hunts demons out of guilt rather than out of the goodness of his heart, but that all gets shaken up upon meeting Detective Angela Dodson (Rachel Weisz)....

Red Sonja Movie Is Still Alive, Finds Its Lead In Matilda Lutz Shudder By Ben F. Silverio/Aug. 23, 2022 10:05 pm EST In the nearly four decades since the first live-action film starring Brigitte Nielsen and Arnold Schwarzenegger, another adaptation of Dynamite Entertainment’s “Red Sonja” has failed to materialize in Hollywood — but it’s not for lack of trying. Robert Rodriguez once had a vision that included Rose McGowan in the titular role....

Saving John Ford’s Feelings On The Set Of The Alamo Would Come Back To Bite John Wayne United Artists By Jeremy Smith/Sept. 29, 2022 8:15 pm EST When an ambitious, first-time filmmaker pulls off a cinematic coup, critics and jealous industry veterans have a penchant for working overtime to undermine their achievement. You need look no further than “Citizen Kane,” the genius of which has, over the years, been ascribed to cinematographer Gregg Toland, screenwriter Herman J....