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On Friday, Kinberg called KCRW’s “The Business” (via EW) to vent off his frustration a bit, and what we got was a humble and deeply personal interview from a man that blames himself for the movie’s failures. Kinberg admitted that “It clearly is a movie that didn’t connect with audiences that didn’t see it, it didn’t connect enough with audiences that did see it. So that’s on me.” It wasn’t just movie audiences that decided to ignore or disapprove of the movie, film critics have also had their say as ‘Dark Phoenix’ currently holds a 23% Rotten rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the lowest rating of any X-Men movie ever....

Margot Robbie, Diego Calva and Jean Smart were all praised for their performances. The film was described as a mix of Fellini’s “Satyricon” and Scorsese’s “Wolf of Wall Street.” This early cut was said to be 188 minutes in length. Well, it looks as though they didn’t cut a single minute of Chazelle’s movie, as I can report to you that, via Paramount/Variety, “Babylon” has an official runtime of … 188 minutes....

The original cut of “Gangs of New York,” which was shown to a few journalists in 2001, including Hollywood-Elswhere’s Jeffrey Wells, must still be hidden in a vault somewhere. It was said to be over 3 1/2 hours in length. Wells claimed that the behind-the-scenes battle between Scorsese and then Miramax head honcho Harvey Weinstein ended with “a polished, cleaned-up version of the ‘Gangs’ being released in December of 2002” and not the one he saw in 2001....

Italian actress and dialect coach Francesca De Martini was hired on the “House of Gucci” production as a dialogue coach for Salma Hayek, but is clearly irked by the botched job Gaga did with her own Italian intonation. “I feel bad saying this, but her accent is not exactly an Italian accent, it sounds more Russian,” De Martini recently told The Daily Beast in an interview about Gaga’s performance. As reported by The Daily Beast: “When listening in to Hayek’s scenes with Gaga, De Martini says she heard right away the accent was a bit off: ‘I was noticing when I was on set, because I had earphones working with Salma and hearing what she was saying so I could help her to get it right, so I could hear Lady Gaga as well....

This is obviously an inferior quality screen-shot video of the the teaser for Paul Thomas Anderson’s Licorice Pizza, but goddamit if you don’t feel that cinematic energy and vibe coming through your screen. The teaser clearly announces the film as being about the romance between Cooper Hoffman and Alana Haim. There are side characters, including those played by Sean Penn, Bradley Cooper, and Tom Waits, but that’s that. It’s all about the punch-drunk young romanace between Haim and Cooper — the chaos surrounding them feels theatrical and second-fiddle....

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The tangled plot has Chinese-French student Émilie (Lucie Zhang) searching for a roommate, which leads her to Camille (Makita Samba), a twentysomething high-school teacher. They hook up the first night he moves in, but the roommate-with-benefits perks quickly turn into nadir as Émilie develops feelings for him that he can’t reciprocate. Enter Nora (Noémie Merlant), a thirtysomething student enrolling in law school and being mistaken for “Amber Sweet,” an online sex-chat worker; After being ridiculed by the student body for the sex work she never did, Nora drops out and makes a career in real estate and that’s where he and Camille become co-workers at the agency and eventual sexual partners....

In fact, Pope is so good that he deserves awards attention for his work as a gay homeless man who decides to enroll into Marine Corps basic training. Pope’s Ellis is run through the usual draining, both emotionally and physically, boot camp process to become a marine. Pope makes you feel every ache and pain he goes through. The tropes are all here: a sadistic sergeant (a fantastic Bokeem Woodbine), the sympathetic superior (Raúl Castillo), the supportive and non-supportive recruits....

The film is written and directed by Leigh Whannell, he’s the guy who helmed last year’s uber-underrated low-rent sci-fi-er “Upgrade.” Count me in. The only problem this movie has, on-paper at least, is the alarming February 28th release date. Usually Hollywood tends to dump their disparaged titles in the first few months of the year — Is “The Invisible Man” an exception? The film stars Elisabeth Moss, Aldis Hodge, Storm Reid, Harriet Dyer, and Oliver Jackson-Cohen....

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It had originally screened at Sundance 2019 under the guise of a “world premiere.” I remember being bored by the whole thing. The Norwegian setting was beautiful, but the characters were flatly rendered and Jenny Slate’s attempt to subdue her usual neuro-eccentric style of acting felt very off. Slate plays a struggling artist traveling to Lofoten, located at Arctic Norway, in search of inspiration - they should have just called it ‘Eat, Pray, Lofoten”....

Based on a true story, “Till” is all about emotions. In 1955, a Chicago mother, Deadwyler’s Mamie Till, reluctantly sends her son Emmett to visit his cousins in the black-hating swamps of Mississippi. He ends up getting murdered for whistling at a white woman. Mamie’s grief is profound and brings out the activist in her. She would eventually become a civil rights icon in her persistent fight for her son’s good name....

Yes, despite a slew of Oscar nominations, not to mention glowing reviews, “West Side Story” has officially struggled to find an audience in all formats; streaming, theatrical, VOD, you name it. Safe for musical fans, there is no demographic whatsoever that has taken an interest in the film. Its tepid $30 million intake at the box-office was one thing, but it is now bombing on VOD. Spielberg’s musical didn’t even crack the top ten on iTunes, this in its first week in digital release....

The film is vintage Bergman with revealing close-ups, emotionally intense dialogue, an old-fashioned style of film-making, and a surfeit of bitterness about the human condition. Contribute Hire me Advertise Donate Team Contact Privacy Policy

In the next few weeks, we will be getting press screenings for Clint Eastwood’s “Richard Jewell” and Sam Mendes’ “1917,” both are supposed to be unveiled in the third week of November. Other than that, most pundits have all but given up Rob Marshall’s “Cats (especially after that disastrous trailer), ditto Melina Matsoukas’ “Queen & Slim” which has already screened to good reactions but seems to be a non-starter according to some who were at that screening....

Great news came today in the form of a Variety report which stated that Benedict Cumberbatch and Elisabeth Moss would star in Campion’s next film, “The Power of the Dog,” an adaptation of the Thomas Savage novel. Jane Campion statement: “‘The Power of the Dog’ is a sublime novel that deserves a life on the big screen. I couldn’t stop thinking about the story, it really haunted me. The themes of masculinity, nostalgia and betrayal are an intoxicating mix,” Campion said....

The trade obtained a copy of an internal email from the Globes talent booker that was sent to several publicity agencies inquiring about their clients participating in the show. However, sources say, no celebs have agreed to take part. No details were provided about how the winners would be revealed or where the Globes will occur. “The event will have limited guests and with strict COVID protocols that include not only proof of full vaccination, but also a booster shot and a negative PCR test,” the email reads....

Best Picture: “Power of the Dog” Best Director: Jane Campion, “Power of the Dog” Best Actor: Will Smith, “King Richard” Best Actress: Joanna Scanlan ‘After Love’ Brit movie none us know a thing about. Best Supporting Actress: Ariana DeBose, “West Side Story.” Best British Film: “Belfast” Best Adapted Screenplay.: “CODA” Best Original Screenplay.: “Licorice Pizza” Best Animated Film: “Encanto” Best Documentary: “Summer of Soul” Best Cinematography: “West Side Story” Best Film in a foreign language: “Drive My Car” Contribute Hire me...

Today Variety confirmed Bong’s next film, which the trade says also stars Robert Pattinson and will be an adaptation of Edward Ashton’s upcoming novel, “Mickey7.” The novel’s official synopsis: “The story follows Mickey7, an Expendable, a disposable employee on a human expedition sent to colonize the ice world Niflheim. Whenever there’s a mission that’s too dangerous—even suicidal—the crew turns to Mickey. After one iteration dies, a new body is regenerated with most of his memories intact....

Cronenberg’s last film was the critically-acclaimed “Possessor”. That one premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and one might imagine “Infinity Pool” also having its first screening at Sundance this coming January. In a recent piece I wrote, titled Reaction to Brandon Cronenberg’s ‘Infinity Pool’ Hints at Another NC-17 Shocker, a reader sent a report from a test-screening that occurred for “Infinity Pool.” Here’s the synopsis: Contribute Hire me Advertise Donate Team Contact Privacy Policy