In this week’s episode of Screen Talk, Eric Kohn and Anne Thompson debate both movies and how their Oscar campaigns are likely to take shape. They also address Sophia Loren’s Oscar odds in “The Life Ahead,” touch base on election season for the last time before it (hopefully!) comes to an end on Tuesday, and close out with a couple of horror movie recommendations for the weekend. Listen to the full episode below....
Rogen hit back at Cruz for his criticism by writing, “Fuck off you fascist,” prompting the following response form the senator: “Charming, civil, educated response. If you’re a rich, angry Hollywood celebrity, today’s Dems are the party for you. If you’re blue-collar, if you’re a union member, if you work in energy or manufacturing…not so much.” “Get fucked fascist,” Rogen wrote back to Cruz. “Go encourage a white supremacist insurrection again you fucking clown…If you’re a white supremacist fascist who doesn’t find it offensive when someone calls your wife ugly, Ted Cruz is the exact motherfucker for you....
Inspired by true events and based on the 2019 podcast of the same name, “The Shrink Next Door” centers on the bizarre relationship between a psychiatrist to the stars, Dr. Isaac “Ike” Herschkopf, and his longterm patient, Martin “Marty” Markowitz. What starts as a normal doctor-patient dynamic slowly turns into the all-too-charming Ike (Rudd) taking over patient Marty’s (Ferrell) life, from moving into Marty’s home to taking over his family business....
In upcoming star-studded adventure film “Luck,” Broadway star Eva Noblezada voices Sam Greenfield, the unluckiest person in the world who discovers the magical Land of Luck after aging out of foster care — and becomes determined to harness its power to fix her life. The only catch? She must unite the magical creatures in the Land of Luck, who have wily minds of their own. Apple Original Films and Skydance Animation unveiled the details behind the Among those magical creatures is a lucky black cat named Bob (Simon Pegg), who teams up with Sam in a quest to find a lucky penny to preserve his own perfect life....
“I get annoyed at Simon Pegg. He doesn’t know anything about what’s going on and he keeps making all these comments as if he knows about stuff,” Tarantino told Deadline in July 2019. “One of the comments he said, he’s like, ‘Well, look, it’s not going to be “Pulp Fiction” in space.’ Yes, it is! If I do it, that’s exactly what it’ll be. It’ll be ‘Pulp Fiction’ in space....
On the surface, “Small Axe” may look like the latest example of a revered auteur making his foray into the television realm. But McQueen, whose only prior work in that medium was an unproduced HBO pilot several years ago, insisted on characterizing each installment of the series as a discrete film tied to a larger theme. “It started as a TV series,” he said in an interview this week, recalling BBC’s preferences at the start....
Watch the cold open from Saturday’s episode of “SNL” below. “Greetings America. It’s a spooky time filled with demons and darkness. Also, it’s Halloween,” Carrey’s Biden says. “For some Trump voters, it’s the only day they’ll wear a mask. Like my decorations? I stole them from Melania’s Christmas display. Which reminds me, there’s another holiday right around the corner: Election Day. If you’re like most Americans, you’re excited to vote — and very, very worried about the outcome....
Here’s the synopsis from Focus: “How can one rock band be successful, underrated, hugely influential, and criminally overlooked all at the same time? ‘The Sparks Brothers,’ which features commentary from celebrity fans Flea, Beck, Jack Antonoff, Jason Schwartzman, Neil Gaiman, and more, takes audiences on a musical odyssey through five weird and wonderful decades with brothers/bandmates Ron and Russell Mael, celebrating the inspiring legacy of your favorite band’s favorite band....
Soderbergh’s production company Extension 765 on Tuesday launched a $300,000 pot of money available on DCP’s platform. The Andrews/Bernard Award will support multiple filmmakers with finishing funds for English-language fiction features or shorts. Soderbergh says he and Coppola share an interest in avenues for boosting filmmakers that don’t necessarily lead to studios, and he’s eager to help up-and-coming-talent. “As with a lot of things I’ve done, it’s kind of an experiment,” Soderbergh said in a recent interview with IndieWire....
Many prominent directors have made personal projects about their youth in recent times, from Kenneth Branagh’s “Belfast” to James Gray’s “Armageddon Time” and Sam Mendes’ “Empire of Light,” but only Spielberg could have made a movie with such an explicit relationship to his own celebrated filmography, and the warm reception is likely to follow him through awards season. Spielberg’s career has gone through many phases, but “The Fabelmans” stands out his most contained and intimate movie, a semi-autobiographical drama about ambitious teen Sammy Fabelman (newcomer Gabriel LaBelle) as he discovers his love for movies in tandem with the divorce of his parents (Paul Dano and Michelle Williams)....
In an interview with Variety published last December, Yeun reconciled himself with the prospect of becoming the first Asian-American Best Actor nominee at the Academy Awards. “It’s probably a bummer that that is the case. This is a hard one for me,” the actor said. “As great as it would be to set a precedent or be part of a moment that breaks through a ceiling, I personally don’t want to be ensnared by that moment, either....
The Oscar-nominated actor made his voiceover debut in last year’s “Spirit Untamed” and now is leading Disney animated adventure film “Strange World,” in theaters November 23. With a plot mostly kept under wraps, “Strange World” follows the Clade family of explorers, who journey into an uncharted land where fantastical creatures await discovery. Co-directed by Academy Award-nominated “Raya and the Last Dragon” filmmakers Don Hall and writer Qui Nguyen, “Strange World” also stars Alan Tudyk; the rest of the cast has yet to be announced....
This robust lineup features plenty of familiar names and faces, including Edgar Wright, Lucy Walker, Robin Wright, Betsy West and Julie Cohen, Siân Heder, Sion Sono, Daryl Wein and Zoe Lister-Jones, Ana Katz, Kevin Macdonald, and many more. More than half the lineup is first-time filmmakers, and they range from established actors like Rebecca Hall and Jerrod Carmichael to newcomers like Lyle Mitchell Corbine Jr. Sixty-six of the festival’s feature films, or 92 percent of the lineup announced today, will be world premieres....
The 2023 festival also will not host its digital social space or the online venue known as The Spaceship, where badgeholders can interact as avatars and watch showcased works. As the festival prepares to hold its first in-person edition in two years, New Frontier was never part of those in-person plans. Instead, the festival planned it as an exclusively virtual event and has been accepting submissions for months. In October, artists who submitted projects received a notice from New Frontier chief curator Shari Frilot informing them that they would be reimbursed for submission fees....
Here’s the official synopsis: “It is deep Autumn and Sam and Tusker, partners of 20 years, are on holiday. They are traveling across England in their old camper van visiting friends, family and places from their past. Since Tusker was diagnosed with young-onset dementia two years ago their lives have had to change. Jobs have been given up and plans put on hold. Their time together is now the most important thing they have....
Weyermann, the documentary chief at Participant, elected to step down as co-chair and recuse herself from serving on the Executive Committee due to her professional relationship with “Collective,” which Romania officially selected for this year’s International Feature Film competition. Weyermann is not credited on the film and while Participant did not finance it, Participant did co-acquire “Collective” and is sharing its release with Magnolia Pictures. The Danish Bier directed Oscar-winner “In a Better World,” the Oscar-nominated “After the Wedding,” “Open Hearts,” and “Brothers....
Hopping on a Zoom with IndieWire, the good-humored actress revealed that in the video she shared of her in tears, celebrating Emmy nominations morning on a phone call with her mother, she did not actually know that she’d also made the cut for Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie alongside four of her “The White Lotus” co-stars. “My mom only knew about ‘Euphoria,’” recalled Sweeney....
FX Networks revealed earlier in December that Waititi will executive produce “Reservation Dogs,” a half-hour comedy series that, per the network, will follow four Native American teenagers in rural Oklahoma who spend their days committing crime… and fighting it. The company’s announcement might not have mentioned Quentin Tarantino or “Reservoir Dogs” but the similarities between Waititi’s upcoming series and Tarantino’s first film are readily apparent. The series’ promotional image is a clear throwback to the slickly-dressed criminals in Tarantino’s 1992 feature which also centered on a motley crew of criminals....
The idea in presenting the Telluride selections is to recommend the best in film this year in hopes that audiences will seek out these movies at other fall festivals (or what remains of them) down the line. With the 2021 Academy Awards pushed way out to April 25, there’s at once less pressure on these films to perform for awards but also a crush of movies backlogged since quarantine hit, making for a competitive season....
Just this past Oscar season, a Western came very close to winning best picture: Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog.” That film used the landscape of the West to interrogate American masculinity and the way it imprisons men as much as it does anyone else. If that film whet your appetite for more in the genre, here are some others you should check out. From violent revenge thrillers to comedies, keep reading for 15 of the best contemporary films about the American West....
