The reviews have been pouring in for Damien Chazelle’s First Man, and the only thing that could be soaring higher than Neil Armstrong are the film’s Oscar prospects. Despite a little bit of pointless controversy following its Venice premiere, it looks like a legit Best Picture frontrunner, and we may even be talking about Ryan Gosling for Best Actor.
A new trailer for the film has arrived and it’s a showcase for Gosling in the central role. He gets the unvenviable task of portraying a true American hero, but one who was famously a cipher to most of his colleagues. Joining Gosling is Claire Foy as Armstrong’s wife, Janet, and by all accounts it’s a role that goes beyond the usual “loyal spouse” model we’ve grown accustomed to.
Also starring Jason Clarke, Corey Stoll, and Kyle Chandler with a script by Josh Singer (Spotlight), First Man blasts off on October 12th. This should be amazing to see in IMAX, too.
We’re happy to offer our readers the chance to attend a free advance screening of Life Itself, the new film from This Is Us creator Dan Fogelman. It stars Oscar Isaac, Olivia Wilde, Antonio Banderas, Annette Bening, Laia Costa, and Olivia Cooke.
SYNOPSIS: As a young New York couple goes from college romance to marriage and the birth of their first child, the unexpected twists of their journey create reverberations that echo over continents and through lifetimes in Life Itself. Director and writer Dan Fogelman (“This Is Us”) examines the perils and rewards of everyday life in a multigenerational saga featuring an international ensemble including Oscar Isaac, Olivia Wilde, Antonio Banderas, Annette Bening, Olivia Cooke, Sergio Peris- Mencheta, Laia Costa, Alex Monner and Mandy Patinkin. Set in New York City and Carmona, Spain, Life Itself celebrates the human condition and all of its complications with humor, poignancy and love.
The screening takes place tomorrow, September 13th, at 7:00pm at AMC Tysons Corner. If you’d like to attend, simply go to the Amazon screening site here. Please remember that all screenings are first come first served and having passes does not guarantee entry. You will need to arrive early to ensure receiving a seat. Enjoy the show!
Westerns have always served the Coen Brothers well, starting with the three Oscars (including Best Picture) they won for 2007’s No Country for Old Men. That was followed in 2011 by their True Grit remake, which had an incredible 10 Oscar nominations. Now they’re back in arguably their best genre with The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, which is looking like a major awards contender for Netflix this season.
Originally designed as a Netflix event series, we were surprised when it was revealed to be part of the Venice Film Festival lineup as a feature. The series format has been reworked into a 6-part anthology starring Tim Blake Nelson, James Franco, Liam Neeson, David Krumholtz, Zoe Kazan, Brendan Gleeson, and Tom Waits. The duo are also reuniting with DP Bruno Delbonnel, who earned an Oscar nomination for Inside Llewyn Davis.
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs will hit Netflix and select theaters on November 16th.
Deadline notes that Warner Bros. has talked about Jordan possibly taking on the role, although no replacement for Cavill will be named any time soon. As we also just mentioned in the previous story, the focus will now move to their Supergirl film, which has The Cloverfield Paradox writer Oren Uziel on board.
If Jordan did get the role, though, it would be absolutely game-changing. Obviously he’d be the first person of color to play the role on the big screen, unless you count Shaquille O’Neal as Superman fill-in, Steel. But then, nobody counts that, do they? Jordan is coming off his role as Erik Killmonger in Marvel’s Black Panther, a performance that completely overshadowed star Chadwick Boseman. He also has Creed II coming up later this year. With Fantastic Four also in his past, Jordan seems to be especially attracted to superhero films, or studios are keen to hire him for them.
Again, nothing is set in stone or even in motion. However, if the Supergirl movie develops as it should, don’t be surprised if her more-famous cousin makes a cameo.
Then again, this is the DCEU we’re talking about. All of this could change tomorrow and Supergirl get canceled or something. You just never know with these folks.
The DCEU as we know it is bending, but will it break? First, Ben Affleck appears to be done as Batman, and now THR reports Henry Cavill has exited his role as Superman, having played the Man of Steel in three movies.
So what caused all of this? Apparently, it was a long-rumored cameo in Shazam!, with Cavill balking due to scheduling conflicts. That said, this story about Cavill’s exit has been floating around for a while now, and there’s a possibility he is just doing this as some kind of power move. However, as the site notes, “the door is now closing on other potential appearances for the actor.”
Warner Bros. may have the leg up, though, because their focus is said to be shifting to the Supergirl movie that recently hired 22 Jump Street writer Oren Uziel to write a script about the teenage heroine’s origin story. That film will be completed long before any Man of Steel sequel, since one doesn’t appear to be in the works despite many assertions to the contrary.
This is a huge blow. Cavill and Affleck were once the cornerstones of the DCEU as Superman and Batman, but all of that seems to have changed with the emergence of Wonder Woman. Then again, as one source tells the site, “Superman is like James Bond, and after a certain run you have to look at new actors.” Perhaps it won’t be long before we hear about a new Kryptonian on the block.
Steven Soderbergh has always been on the leading edge of marketing and distribution strategies for his movies, which is why it should come as no surprise he would eventually find a home at Netflix. The director has teamed with the streaming service to release his upcoming sports drama, High Flying Bird.
Netflix has acquired global rights to the film, which stars Andre Holland, Zazie Beetz, Zachary Quinto, Kyle Machlachlan, Bill Duke, Sonja Sohn, and Melvin Gregg with a script by Moonlight‘s Tarell Alvin McCraney. The film takes place during an NBA lockout and follows a sports agent who pitches a rookie basketball client an intriguing and controversial proposition.
Soderbergh says about the Netflix deal,“We had several strong options for distributing High Flying Bird, but to borrow the patois of the movie itself, this deal felt like a slam dunk and the perfect way for me to begin my relationship with Netflix as a director.”
The plan is for High Flying Bird to be released in 2019, and based on what Soderbergh has said I expect this will be the first of many collaborations with Netflix.
While we may recognize Paul Feig for his many successful comedies, he’s always been keen on using the genre to explore the relationships between women. That predilection hasn’t changed but he’s doing it in a slightly different way with A Simple Favor, a slick romantic caper that’s both chic and campy, a thrill and a laugh riot thanks to brilliant opposing performances by Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively.
Based on the Darcey Bell book but clearly drawing some inspiration from the New Wave works of French directors such as Francois Ozon and Yves Caumon, A Simple Favor is more delightful than Gone Girl and just as twisted. Anna Kendrick, always at her best when playing dorky and over-eager, is perfectly cast as Stephanie, an energetic single mom with a food vlog and a serious need for some friends. She thinks she’s found one in glamorous and high-powered PR rep Emily, played by a strident and ferocious Blake Lively. The two seemingly have nothing in common other than their sons and the suburban Connecticut elementary school they share. Emily certainly doesn’t act like the mothering type; she cusses like a sailor, openly dismisses the idea of a play date between their sons (“Mommy already has a play date with a symphony of antidepressants”), and has nothing good to say about her husband, Sean (Crazy Rich Asians‘ Henry Golding), a writer who never got over his one hit book.
Emily should eat poor Stephanie alive; that’s certainly what the other neighborhood mommies think will happen, but she actually teaches her a thing or two about being confident and to stop apologizing for everything. Before long they’re sharing secrets over martinis, the good kind, the French way. When Emily asks for a “simple favor” picking up her son from school, she never returns to pick him up. Days pass, the cops are called in to investigate, and it’s unclear if something horrible has happened or if she has simply run away from her life.
A “darker side” is teased for every character, but it’s most fun to watch emerge in Stephanie, who begins using Emily’s disappearance as a hook for her show. Tune in for the homemade brownies, stay for the murder mystery! Kendrick is wonderful playing amateur detective, digging into Emily’s past while also taking on some of her nastier traits. She can make any interaction awkward, and make the smallest embarrassment seem like a national crisis. Lively lives up to her name with the most deliciously fun role she’s had. It’s always worked in her favor that she’s so often cast as the enigmatic beauty, but here she’s outwardly forceful, venomous, manipulative, and a joy to watch. When Emily is gone for long stretches it definitely hurts the film a little bit, the weird dynamic between her and Stephanie one of its strongest points. The final act is utterly and intentionally ridiculous. There are so many twists and double-crosses you never know who is zoomin’ who, but screenwriter Jessica Sharzer plays the ultimate reveal just right. The silliness is all part of A Simple Favor‘s simple pleasure, served best in a chilled martini glass.
Halle Berry has worked with a number of great directors throughout her career, and now she’s looking to join their ranks. Deadline reports Berry will make her directorial debut on Bruised, an MMA drama that she will also star in.
Berry will be working from a script by newcomer Michelle Rosenfarb, and play ” Jackie “Justice,” a disgraced MMA fighter who has failed at the one thing she’s ever been good at – fighting. When 6-year-old Manny, the son she walked out on years ago, returns to her doorstep, Jackie has to conquer her own demons, face one of the fiercest rising stars of the MMA world, and ultimately fight to become the mother this kid deserves.”
Currently Berry can be found shooting her role in John Wick 3, and the relationships she’s forged there will be carrying over. Not only are the John Wick producers backing her on Bruised, but she’ll be working with the same fight choreographers. Maybe Keanu can make a cameo? He knows a thing or two about fight choreography, as well.
Here’s to wishing Berry the best as she embarks on this new phase of her career. Lately I feel like she’s been adrift, either playing a third banana in a sequel like Kingsman: The Golden Circle or leading forgettable thrillers like The Call and Kidnap. She’s an Oscar winner and deserves better than what has been offered lately, so maybe it’s the right move to create her own opportunities. Berry will begin filming on Bruised next March.
Hot on the heels of The Nun earning the highest debut weekend of any films in The Conjuring Universe, we’re getting an update on the O.G. franchise. Last year we learned that screenwriter David Leslie Johnson (now David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick) was hired to begin work on The Conjuring 3, but word on it has been ghost ever since. Now franchise producer Peter Safran says the sequel is still in the works, and may begin shooting sooner rather than later. He tells Cinemablend…
“It’s actually coming along great. David [Leslie] Johnson is working on the screenplay, and I feel pretty confident they will have that one up and running next year.”
Of course Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga will return as paranormal detectives Ed and Lorraine Warren, but it’s unclear which of the Warrens’ real-life cases will serve as inspiration. Safran has said in the past that he doesn’t want to do another haunted house film, so maybe the 1981 Arne Johnson case? In that one, the Warrens were brought in to help prove that Arne Johnson, who had been accused of murdering his landlord, was actually possessed by a demon at the time. Johnson’s case actually went to trial, becoming the first ever in which the defense sought to prove innocence on account of demon possession.
As for whether James Wan will return to direct the franchise he launched, that is also unclear. Previously it looked like he would be too busy working on Aquaman, but if shooting is really primed for 2019, he may have time in his schedule. Otherwise he’ll probably hand over the reins to someone else as he has done with the Saw and Insidious franchises.
Marvel has been a bit slow when it comes to cultural representation on the big screen. Some of that has changed with Black Panther and Captain Marvel finally giving us heroes who aren’t straight white males, but things could still be better. Oddly enough, it’s somebody who has nothing to do with Marvel who is calling them out for failing to embrace the LGBTQ community in any of their casting choices.
Game of Thrones star Kit Harington criticized Marvel for failing to cast queer male leads, particularly in roles that demand a certain masculinity…
“There’s a big problem with masculinity and homosexuality that they can’t somehow go hand in hand,” Harington said. “That we can’t have someone in a Marvel movie who’s gay in real life and plays some superhero. I mean, when is that going to happen?”
Harington was in Toronto chatting with Variety in promotion for Xavier Dolan’s The Death and Life of John F. Donovan, and he was accompanied by a number of his co-stars. They all agreed with his perspective, with Thandie Newton noting that Hollywood is even a few steps behind professional sports, which has had a number of stars come out as gay. A few years ago that was virtually unthinkable.
“It is changing, but we have to get behind those changes and keep pushing it,” Newton said.
