Posts

Casting Bad Santa Was An Uphill Battle For Everyone Involved Miramax Films By Witney Seibold/Dec. 3, 2022 1:00 pm EST Terry Zwigoff’s 2003 film “Bad Santa” was more or less destined for cult classic status. Starring an Academy Award-winning actor, “Bad Santa” was deliberately crass and misanthropic, an antidote to the treacly sentimentality that ordinarily infuses films explicitly about Christmas. In “Bad Santa,” Billy Bob Thornton plays an itinerant mall Santa named Willie who uses his seasonal job to plan last-minute mall heists with his partner Marcus (Tony Cox), who poses as one of Santa’s Elves....

El Tigre Creator Jorge R. Gutiérrez Talks Struggling Heroes, Absurd Studio Notes, And More [Exclusive Interview] Nickelodeon By Rafael Motamayor/Dec. 9, 2022 3:00 pm EST (Welcome to My Most Ridiculous Note, a series of interviews in which animators talk about the weirdest and funniest notes they received from studio executives.) “El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera” was a superhero show unlike any other in the mid-2000s: an action-packed animated series with a distinct visual style and a nuanced character with a moral dilemma at its center....

Getting Harvey Keitel For Reservoir Dogs Wasn’t Much Work For Quentin Tarantino Miramax Films By Devin Meenan/Sept. 17, 2022 6:00 pm EST Looking back from 2022, Quentin Tarantino’s “Reservoir Dogs” is a star-studded feature. But when it premiered in 1992, the only big name in the cast was Harvey Keitel. The four main color-coded criminals, Steve Buscemi (Mr. Pink), Tim Roth (Mr. Orange), and Michael Maden (Mr. Blonde), had their fair share of film and television appearances, but were still in the minor leagues....

Finding the right man for the gills Universal Pictures To successfully depict the menacing Gill-Man, the amphibious monster had to be played by two separate actors in the film. Ben Chapman was in charge of acting in all of the Creature’s scenes that took place on land — a task that came with its own set of problems largely involving Chapman’s inability to see well through his mask — but Ricou Browning (who is the last still-living person known to have portrayed a Universal monster on screen) was the man in charge of bringing the Creature to life underwater....

Her face says it all A24 Ortega took to Twitter to share some select behind-the-scenes images from “X,” revealing the copious amounts of prosthetics she had to wear postmortem. The gnarly make-up might even look more disturbing out of the context of “X,” especially since it is mucked up a bit by the visual aesthetics of the film. Although we get a few good shots of it during the movie, the photos posted on social media let us appreciate the gory details a bit more....

Linda Cardellini Loves What Velma’s Canon Confirmation Means For Scooby-Doo Fans Warner Bros. By Tyler Llewyn Taing/Nov. 11, 2022 6:38 pm EST Since 1969, the “Scooby-Doo” franchise has been providing family-fun thrills and chills for generations, spawning spin-off cartoons, two live-action movies, video games, and countless animated films and specials. The Scooby Snack-loving dog and his mystery gang have a firm, loveable place in pop culture. The newest animated film, “Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo!...

MCU Jokes That Didn’t Age Well Marvel Studios By Liam Gaughan/July 21, 2022 5:15 pm EST It can’t be overstated how important humor is within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The MCU is very complex and requires dedication from the viewers. Trying to figure out how each connected storyline relates to each other would feel like homework if the audience didn’t have characters that they cared about. Thankfully, Kevin Feige and the creative forces at Marvel Studios have always nailed their casting choices, selecting actors that have a sense of humor....

Movie Title Designer Dan Perri Explains How Taxi Driver’s Memorable Title Sequence Was Made [Exclusive] Columbia Pictures By Witney Seibold/Nov. 22, 2022 3:56 pm EST Martin Scorsese’s 1976 drama “Taxi Driver” opens on a large white plume of steam, billowing from a vent in a street in New York City. It is night, and the plume captures the garish white light of a nearby streetlamp. Plaintive, scary Bernard Herrmann jazz plays on the soundtrack....

My Best Friend’s Exorcism trailer The trailer kicks off by making it crystal clear that this is an ’80s throwback, with Tiffany’s “I Think We’re Alone Now” blaring and outfits that make it impossible not to understand the decade we’re being transported to. As is often the case in horror films, things get going in earnest when a group of teenage friends gather at a house by a lake. What could possibly go wrong?...

One Line From His Girl Friday Revealed Cary Grant’s True Identity Columbia Pictures By Leigh Giangreco/Aug. 7, 2022 6:30 pm EST Even after dozens of rewatches, it’s nearly impossible to keep up with the lightning-paced dialogue of Howard Hawks’ screwball comedy, His Girl Friday. Some one-liner gems packed a punch in the 1940s — “Take Hitler and stick him on the funny pages” — while others have stood the test of time — “Oh and I see you’ve got your rubbers too, always good to be prepared for anything....

One Rings Of Power Actor Had No Clue About The ‘Amazing Twist’ Her Character Experiences [Exclusive] Prime Video By Jenna Busch/Nov. 11, 2022 7:36 pm EST Major spoilers ahead for “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.” You’ve been warned! “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” recently completed its first season on Prime Video. Based on the supplemental works of author J.R.R. Tolkien, the show takes place thousands of years before the Peter Jackson trilogies....

One Step Closer To Rogue One: Andor Season 2 Starts Production This Month Lucasfilm By Erin Brady/Nov. 4, 2022 4:53 pm EST If you have been enjoying “Andor” like we have, you’ll be thrilled to know it won’t be long before the production gets up and running again in a galaxy far, far away. Showrunner Tony Gilroy revealed in an interview with Collider that filming will start in only a couple of weeks....

Paprika: Everything We Know So Far About Cathy Yan’s Live-Action Anime Adaptation Sony Pictures By Danielle Ryan/Aug. 22, 2022 4:35 pm EST Some stories seem impossible to translate from the written page to the moving image, but a few brave creatives have taken on the task and created masterpieces. Japanese author Yasutaka Tsutsui’s acclaimed 1993 novel “Paprika” is one such story, about a brilliant young psychologist named Chiba who begins experimenting with dream therapy....

Visceral intensity Shudder “Satan’s Slaves: Communion” doesn’t shy away from blending ghostly elements already introduced via Rini’s veiled undead mother Mawarni in “Satan’s Slaves” with more graphic demises more akin to Indonesian gorehound Timo Tjahjanto. Anwar’s elevator centerpiece splatters blood all over an innocent childlike slime shot from Nickelodeon cannons, or the brutalized corpses of past victims roam hallways with their mangled parts dangling like limp noodles. There’s a visceral intensity to “Satan’s Slaves: Communion” that indulges the icky and macabre, meeting somewhere in the middle between possessed “The Conjuring” ghoulishness and more “Evil Dead” branded squeamish sights....

The Peripheral Review: The Splashy New Prime Video Sci-Fi Series Is A Swing And A Miss Sophie Mutevelian/Prime Video By Sarah Milner/Oct. 20, 2022 9:00 am EST Part-way through Prime Video’s new series “The Peripheral,” I found myself wondering “is this real life?” — but not for the intended reasons. The new sci-fi drama series, which is executive produced by “Westworld” creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, is a bold attempt at crafting an intriguing, thrilling new series....

What is Those About to Die about? HBO Per the press release from Peacock: “‘Those About to Die’ is a large-scale drama set within the spectacular, complex, and corrupt world of gladiatorial sports in Ancient Rome. The series introduces an ensemble of diverse characters across the many layers of Roman society where sports, politics, and business intersect and collide.” In his official statement, Roland Emmerich voiced his fascination with the Roman Empire, “especially its enormous games which entertained the masses through spectacle at the monumental Colosseum....

Why Henry Cavill Chose That Suit For Superman’s Black Adam Return Warner Bros. Pictures By Marcos Melendez/Oct. 27, 2022 1:23 pm EST The madman did it. Dwayne Johnson brought back Henry Cavill as the Man of Steel in “Black Adam,” changing the hierarchy of the DC Universe for good. After years of speculation and an endless rumor mill, it seemed a clear path to the actor being Superman again was possibly lost before the latest DC film....

‘Miles’ Of Airplane Scrap Went Into Making Star Wars’ Millennium Falcon Set Lucasfilm By Matthew Bilodeau/Dec. 9, 2022 5:49 pm EST Science fiction is home to a number of uniquely designed spaceships for exploring the cosmos. “Star Trek” has the USS Enterprise, “Doctor Who” has the TARDIS, and then there’s the matter of “Star Wars.” With the institution that the series has become, you can take your pick from a number of star cruisers, but it’s hard to forget the first time you set your eyes on the Millennium Falcon....

Abomination Showed Up In Shang-Chi Because Of His She-Hulk Role Marvel Studios By Jeremy Mathai/Aug. 17, 2022 10:57 am EST The beauty of the Marvel Cinematic Universe — or a source of never-ending consternation, depending on who you talk to — is that continuity, for the most part, matters. Characters who were introduced years ago could very well pop up again at the most unexpected time and with an entirely new outlook from when we last saw them....

Ad Astra’s Moon Rover Chase Called For Some Serious VFX Tech By Witney Seibold/Nov. 3, 2022 3:47 pm EST James Gray’s 2019 film “Ad Astra” might be best described as “Apocalypse Now” in space. In the film, Col. Kurtz is replaced by the protagonist’s long-absent father, and the remote jungle of Cambodia is replaced by the orbit of Neptune. Brad Pitt plays Roy McBride, a laconic astronaut with daddy issues who is assigned to investigate the source of fast-moving cosmic waves that threaten all life in the solar system....