Warner Bros. stirred up quite a bit of controversy, with a certain segment of people anyway, when they decided to pull Gone with the Wind from HBO Max during the recent Black Lives Matter protests. The move was inspired by a plea from 12 Years a Slave writer John Ridley, after years of complaints about the movie’s antiquated presentation of black people in the antebellum South. To listen to some, this was part of a larger scheme to disappear the movie from history altogether, but it was always meant to return with added context…and now it has.
Gone with the Wind is indeed back on HBO Max, but along with it you’ll get two videos from Turner Classic Movies. These short segments shed light on the movie in fuller context, detailing its history and depiction of black people as happy servants during the time of the Civil War and later during Reconstruction.
The first of the added segments is hosted by Turner Classic Movies film scholar Jacqueline Stewart. The second is an hour-long panel discussion titled “The Complicated Legacy of ‘Gone With the Wind,’ moderated by historian Donald Bogle.
There are a laundry list of problematic movies and TV shows, many that we still consider classics to this day. So don’t be surprised to see more decisions like this being made, and if it helps people understand why Gone with the Wind is considered to be racist, maybe this will help them. [Variety]
By now the world knows his name but that’s not stopping the Hamilton crew from drumming up excitement for next week’s premiere on Disney+. Today the Walt Disney Studios’ YouTube page released a short clip of the Tony- Award-winning musical. The 49-second clip features the very beginning of Hamilton’s origin story from the opening song “Alexander Hamilton.”
The version that is to be released next week is a live recording of the original Broadway cast from 2016. This includes writer/director/creator/genius Lin-Manuel Miranda, Daveed Diggs, Christopher Jackson, Leslie Odom Jr, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Jonathan Groff, Anthony Ramos, Phillipa Soo, and Jasmine Cephas Jones.
Hamilton has been in the news a lot in 2020. Back in February, it was announced that the show would receive a theatrical release in October 2021. That plan changed with the coronavirus with Disney announcing in May that the date would be moved up and exclusively put on its streaming platform. The cast also appeared on John Krasinski’s Some Good Newsshow in April, performing the opening song for a young fan who missed the show due to the pandemic. Earlier this week, a trailer dropped with Miranda promoting it on the morning shows.
You can watch the trailer below and catch the show on Disney+ on July 3rd.
There have been many questions about the future of Henry Cavill as Superman. He’s played the role in Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Justice League, but after that his part in the DCEU has diminished right along that of director Zack Snyder. But his clear-throated support of the Snyder Cut of Justice League has led to reports he’ll return as DC’s greatest hero in a series of cameos, but if it were up to Cavill he’d be Superman for a long time to come.
In an interview with Patrick Stewart as part of Variety’s Actors on Actors series, Cavill talked about his desire to stay on as Superman for the long haul, and what it’s meant for him professionally and personally…
“I’ve always been a fan of Superman. With a character like that, you carry the mantle with you off set. And it becomes a part of your public representation. When you meet children, children don’t necessarily see me as Henry Cavill, but they might see Superman, and there’s a responsibility which comes with that. Because it’s such a wonderful character, it’s actually a responsibility I’m happy to have, and I hope that I get to play more of Superman in years to come.”
Stewart, who knows a thing or two about playing iconic heroes due to his time as X-Men leader Professor Xavier, asked Cavill what fans should expect from Zack Snyder’s Justice League when it hits HBO Max next year…
“I can’t really tell you anything aside from the fact that all I know is that HBO Max will be releasing it, I believe, and it’ll be Zack’s final vision for the movie, and I don’t know anything more than that. I’m just really happy that Zack got to realize his vision. I think it’s important for a filmmaker and a storyteller to have their intended vision released and shown to the world, and I’m looking forward to seeing it myself. It’s been quite the ordeal.”
Cavill elaborated, “With Justice League when it came, there was a mix of visions and the movie wasn’t well-received. And then over the subsequent years, there was a push to see the fabled Snyder Cut. And now that time has come, and I think it’s going to be very enjoyable to watch Zack finally release his version.”
To me, Cavill’s Superman is one of the best things about the DCEU. He definitely wasn’t the problem with Batman v Superman or Justice League, and perhaps Snyder’s cut will get to show that. Warner Bros. will read the fan reaction after Cavill’s upcoming cameos and decide how to move forward on Man of Steel 2, which they have to get around to at some point. It’s a shame Cavill has only had one solo outing as Superman after all of these years.
It’s time to put on makeup. Its time to light the lights. Its time to meet the Muppets on The Muppet Show tonight. Well not yet. Kermit and Jow the Otter from Disney+’s legal department announced today that a new Muppet show is coming to the platform, but they couldn’t say much more than that. “The Muppets are getting together to make some fun thing for Disney+,” is all Kermit could “legally” tell us in the new trailer for Muppets Now.
Despite being mum on the exact format and content of the show, we could see that it will have guests stars, sketches, and the usual Muppet frivolity that we are used to. Linda Cardellini, Rupaul, Seth Rogan, Taye Diggs, Aubrey Plaza are all seen whooping it up with Kermit, Miss Piggy, Beaker, and the like in the trailer. This new iteration seems to have more of a chat show feel rather than a variety show feel that the original Muppet Show had.
The show will stream on Disney+ and have six weekly 10 minute episodes and was first announced in early 2019. If you can’t wait to get your Muppet fix, the streaming service currently has a wide range of Muppet content including The Muppets, Muppets Most Wanted, The Muppet Movie, and The Great Muppet Caper. Unfortunately the original Muppet Show is not on there at this time.
The new series original series is set to premiere July 31st on Disney+. You can watch the trailer below.
Bill Murray is notoriously picky about the roles he takes, but man, he sure does love voicing animals. Having voiced Garfield the cat in a pair of movies, he’s also lent his voice to Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox and Isle of Dogs. And now he’ll play another canine in the upcoming film, Bum’s Rush.
Variety reports Murray will voice a dog in Bum’s Rush, a film that will also star Anne Hathaway and Robert Duvall. The story centers on a stray dog named Bum (Murray)who crosses paths with a bookmaker (Hathaway), leading both on a journey that will change their lives. Awwwww shucks that sounds nice.
The film is directed by Aaron Schneider, who is tremendously busy of late. Schneider directed Murray and Duvall in the 2009 film Get Low, so obviously that went well for all involved. Coming up he has the Tom Hanks war movie Greyhound, which Apple will release in about two weeks.
When Will Ferrell is at this best, be it in Old School, Blades of Glory, Talladega Nights, or whatever, it’s when he finds a layer of sweetness beneath the goofy, sophomoric antics. This works especially well in the classic underdog formula, and when Ferrell has a capable partner he can share the screen with. With Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (hitting Netflix on June 26th), Ferrell finds harmony with Rachel McAdams in an endearing comedy as ludicrous and corny as the titular competition itself.
The Eurovision Song Contest is indeed an actual thing. Consider it the red-headed stepchild of international singing competitions, it’s known for a weird array of contestants in garish costumes and debatable talent, although a few genuine stars (ABBA, Celine Dion) have emerged from it. It’s a laughingstock, basically, and ripe for the kind of satire Ferrell and co-writer/director Andrew Steele (The Spoils of Babylon) traffic in.
Ferrell and McAdams play Icelandic duo Lars and Sigrit, who have been obsessed with winning the Eurovision contest since they were children, much to the embarrassment of Lars’ father (and probably not Sigrit’s? It’s a running gag), played by a bearded and ornery Pierce Brosnan. Their group, Fire Saga, get no respect from the locals in their small fishing town, who only want to hear them sing the same terrible songs over and over again. Lars has an ego twice as big as their village, but even he can see that he and Sigrit are a joke. However, his sympathetic non-sibling encourages him on and not-so-subtly wishes he would have the same passion for her as he does the music.
With Iceland suffering, Eurovision becomes their chance at redemption…or complete humiliation. So when Fire Saga somehow makes it into a local contest to decide who competes in the big show, nobody gives them a chance. And they fail…spectacularly, because of Lars’ incompetence. But when a nefarious act takes out all of the other competitors, Fire Saga are forced to be Iceland’s representatives. There is much chagrin to go around in this movie.
Lars and Sigrit’s stumble and bumble their way across Europe, embarrassing Iceland at every turn. But there’s also the growing sense that Sigrit would be better off without Lars, as she’s clearly the more talented of the two. This idea is even put in her head by the dangerously sexy and talented Russian singer Alexander Lemtov (Dan Stevens, hamming it up and loving it), who gets between the two seemingly out of sheer malevolence.
Despite the real-life competition being an easy target, Eurovision pulls its punches whenever there’s a shot at making fun of it. There is so much appreciation for the event that Ferrell never mocks it the way he could and, in this case, probably should. The same goes for Fire Saga, which is only made to look like losers when the focus is so clearly on Lars’ trajectory. But when the attention shifts to Sigrit in the second half, it becomes more of an earnest Cinderella story that we want to cheer on. They’re almost too sympathetic. The film is much funnier when it leans into the absurdity of the entire song competition enterprise, which has become about flash over substance. An unfortunate harness mishap, a costume malfunction crossed with a giant runaway hamster wheel…these are just some of the ridiculous self-destructive obstacles that Fire Saga endure to our tremendous pleasure. There are bizarre turns that, even for Eurovision, are just too far off the beaten path. Demi Lovato plays an undead spirit who lends Lars advice, while Sigrit seeks the same from a trio of elves living in little tiny Hobbit houses. Yes, it’s weird.
So while the tone and tenor of Eurovision is a bit off, Ferrell and McAdams make wonderful music together. The pseudo-sexual energy Lars and Sigrit give off, while simultaneously denying their possible relation is always a saving grace when the gags run hoarse. Ferrell’s awful accent is a hoot, and the more he tries the worse it gets. McAdams is the real show-stopper here, though. While she’s always been a comedic force (remember that she stole Wedding Crashers away from Vaughn, Wilson, and even Ferrell), it’s not often enough that we get to see her work those particular muscles. As Sigrit starts to come into her own, her journey into self-reliance is surprisingly heartfelt. Brosnan is also good in a role that mostly requires him to be a gruff old bastard, but when he does eventually soften it hits home more than expected.
Eurovision isn’t the laugh riot some fans of Ferrell and McAdams may have been hoping for, but the actors commit so fully to the immersive spectacle of the competition that we want this unlikely story to end in a song of victory.
Because of the quarantine, I’ve been able to watch the first three seasons of The Handmaid’s Tale. The was really the first that earned Hulu the kind of critical acclaim they had been seeking while Netflix racked up all of the honors. And it’s easy to see why; not only is the series uncomfortably relevant with its depiction of women forced into servitude by a ruling patriarchy, but there are always huge twists that keep you guessing. Oh yeah, and it’s got Elisabeth Moss in a role that always finds her on edge and stirring shit up.
A teaser for the fourth season has arrived, and it seems as if things are really starting to ramp up. No longer just about the daily lives of enslaved women, war is now brewing against the theocratic rule of Gilead. Moss returns as June Osborne, a rebellious handmaid who has, somehow, not been shot, hanged, drowned, or had her eyes plucked out given all of the troubles she’s caused. It’s a little unbelievable, honestly, that June’s survived this long but I’m anxious to see her get some revenge for all of the crap she’s been put through.
It’s hard to remember a time when JJ Abrams wasn’t making Star Wars and Star Trek movies, or blinding us with lens flares in Super 8 or Mission: Impossible. But there was a time when he believed in telling little stories about everyday life, and that was his series Felicity, which helped make a star out of Keri Russell. Well, Abrams is going back to his small-screen roots with a new series for Apple TV+, Little Voice.
Little Voice stars Brittany O’Grady, who led the Fox series Star, and while this is another show about from Abrams about a woman trying to make it in the world, there’s something very different. O’Grady’s musical talents are well-known, and she’ll be joined by original music from Sara Bareilles. The 9-episode series will feature new songs from Bareilles throughout. Abrams and Bareilles are joined by creator Jessie Nelson, who previously directed films Love the Coopers and I Am Sam.
Embrace of the Serpent director Ciro Guerra has a thing about colonization by the west over native people. His latest, Waiting for the Barbarians, follows a similar theme and casts some pretty big colonizers to lead an A-list cast: Robert Pattinson, Johnny Depp, and Mark Rylance.
Based on the 1980 novel by J.M. Coetze, Welcome to the Barbarians follows an unnamed magistrate in a colonial outpost who refuses to take up arms against the native people, or “barbarians”, despite threats of a potential uprising. But his plans to maintain the peace and defend against injustice are disrupted by the arrival of a Colonel whose methods are decidedly more vicious.
The cast also includes Greta Scacchi, Sam Reid, Gana Bayarsaikhan, David Dencik, Harry Melling, and Bill Milner.
SYNOPSIS: The Magistrate (Mark Rylance) of an isolated frontier settlement on the border of an unnamed empire looks forward to an easy retirement until the arrival of Colonel Joll (Johnny Depp), whose task it is to report on the activities of the ‘barbarians’ and on the security situation on the border. Joll conducts a series of ruthless interrogations, which leads the Magistrate to question his loyalty to the empire.
Waiting for the Barbarians hits VOD on August 7th.
Formerly-titled Eve, Jessica Chastain’s assassin film Ava has had a troubled route to release. Original director Matthew Newton dropped out when past domestic abuses came to light, but that might’ve worked in the movie’s favor. Chastain, also a producer on the film, turned to Tate Taylor, her director on The Help, to step and save the day. And now with the release of this trailer we’re getting our first look at one of the first major films of the fall season.
Ava sounds like a textbook flick for the genre, with Chastain playing a deadly assassin who must fight for her life when a high-profile job goes wrong. The cast includes Geena Davis, Colin Farrell, John Malkovich, Common, Jess Weixler, Joan Chen, Diana Silvers, and Ioan Gruffudd. While Taylor is directing, Newton’s script remains in play.
