‘Joker’ Breaks $1 Billion, Surpassing ‘Deadpool’ As Most Successful R-Rated Movie Of All Time

Video November 18, 2019 Madison Santel

https://movietrailers.apple.com/movies/wb/joker/joker-trailer-2_h1080p.mov

Second Official Trailer for “Joker”

Amidst Family-Friendly ‘Billionaire’ Movies, ‘Joker’ is the Only R-Rated Feature to Break the Mold

“Joker” came out nearly two months ago on October 4^th. Upon release, it earned an immediate $93.5 million, giving it the highest-grossing October opening weekend ever. Recently, however, “Joker” broke yet another record, this time solidifying it as a financial success and a milestone movie.

Earlier this week, “Joker” became the first R-rated movie to earn more than $1 billion at the box office, edging out “Deadpool” as the most lucrative R-Rated film of all time.

Only a handful of movies have managed to break the $1 billion threshold. This year, “Joker” joins the likes of “Avengers: Endgame,” “Toy Story 4,” and “The Lion King” as a film that managed to earn ten figures. It is also Warner Brothers’ biggest success since “Aquaman,” which came out in December 2018 and grossed $1.2 billion.

Almost every movie to make over a $1 billion has been a family-friendly action-comedy blockbuster, nestled somewhere between a PG and PG-13 rating. This usually allows for a wider range of people to buy tickets. “Joker,” however, stands out as an R-rated sinister drama that made an artistic debut at the Venice and Toronto Film Festivals. The movie even received some backlash for its ultra-violent themes and its humanization of the criminally insane.

https://movietrailers.apple.com/movies/wb/joker/joker-teaser-1_h1080p.mov

Original Official Trailer for “Joker”

Public Obsession with ‘Joker’ Brings Alarm as Many Fear it could Spawn Copy Cats

Of course, the movie is about Batman’s arch nemesis and is technically under the DC Entertainment label. Thus, it was bound to find success from the beginning. Nevertheless, given “Joker’s” mature nature and radical subject matter, it remains quite impressive that the film is doing as well as it is.

Like most big-budget films nowadays, the majority of “Joker’s” success came from foreign ticket sales. The movie has earned $694 million abroad compared to $322.6 million domestic. However, Warner Brothers also managed to make this hefty figure without releasing the film in China, which is the second largest movie market in the world.

Some may find it disturbing that a movie focusing on the antagonist is drawing so much attention. Many fear that audiences will empathize with the Joker too much and perhaps try to follow in his deranged and violent footsteps.

Despite Criticism, Filmmakers Defend Artistry as a Potential Oscar Buzz surrounds the ‘Clown Prince’

Director Todd Phillips and lead actor Joaquin Phoenix (who plays the titular character) have heard these criticisms loud and clear, but they still defend their work. Essentially, they take the stance that filmmakers have artistic freedom to tell the stories they want to tell, no matter how unsavory the characters or how risky the themes. They contend that filmmakers (like any artists) do not have an obligation to teach viewers morality—it is up to the individual to interpret the story ethically and make the right choices.

Regardless, the criticism is not stopping people from seeing the movie. Evidently, millions of people from all around the world are flocking to theaters for “Joker.” Meanwhile, it is also getting positive reviews and potential Oscar buzz, especially regarding Joaquin Phoenix transformative performance as the Clown Prince of Darkness.

“Joker” as a whole is a divisive and morally ambiguous picture. The movie was a risk on Warner Brothers’ part and its ultimate legacy is yet to be determined. At the very least, though, Warner Bros knows that the risk paid off financially, and that they are cashing a big check for their fast and loose quasi-Batman anti-hero project.

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Entertainment, Movies, Tech

Netflix Aiming for Prestige to Combat Debt as Streaming War Brings Extreme Competition

November 10, 2019 Madison Santel

Can this Digital GrandDaddy Stay Relevant as Disney+, Apple TV+ and more enter the Fray? For years, Netflix has been pointed to as the premiere streaming service and the foremost company responsible for popularizing watching content online instead of on a television or movie screen. It has earned a spot alongside Facebook, Amazon, Apple, and … Continue reading Netflix Aiming for Prestige to Combat Debt as Streaming War Brings Extreme Competition →

Entertainment, Lifestyle, Movies

Notorious Last Jedi Director Ventures into Murder-Mystery Passion Project in ‘Knives Out’

Video November 5, 2019 Madison Santel

https://movietrailers.apple.com/movies/lionsgate/knives-out/knives-out-trailer-2_h1080p.mov

New Official Trailer for “Knives Out”

Is Rian Johnson only a Master of the Sci-Fi Action Genre or is he a Jack-of-All-Genres?

Given his recent body of work, writer-director Rian Johnson has become known predominantly for sci-fi action projects. From “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” to “Looper” to some of the most impactful episodes of “Breaking Bad,” you could reasonably expect Johnson’s next idea to follow in the same vein of blockbuster intensity. In fact, Lucasfilm has already signed him up for his own Star Wars trilogy project.

Before Jonson gets to work on that next big-budget Disney assignment, though, he has been having some fun pursuing a passion project with Lionsgate that will come out on November 27^th. The film is called “Knives Out,” and while it may not be the cinematic epic that audiences have come to know Johnson for, it just might satisfy us all the same.

The Answer is Yes — He Masterfully Blends Comedy, Mystery, and All-Star Cast For this Fun-Filled Thrill-Ride

The premise of “Knives Out” has nothing to do with space battles or time travel. The movie is an action-comedy-drama about a family whose patriarch dies under suspicious circumstances and an eccentric detective who’s tasked with figuring out the truth. However, rather than having the film be a straightforward hard-boiled noir story, Johnson borderline parodies the genre, with hilariously hyperbolic characters moving the twisty plotline along with on-the-nose dialogue and wit.

https://movietrailers.apple.com/movies/lionsgate/knives-out/knives-out-trailer-1_h1080p.mov

Original Official Trailer for “Knives Out”

These funky characters are portrayed by an all-star cast. Foremost, Daniel Craig plays the detective: a super-serious, inquisitive leading man dead-set on unraveling the mystery. Endearingly, Craig almost seems to poke fun at himself in this role, mocking his own performances as the latest, ultra-stoic version of James Bond.

Standing alongside Craig as members of the family are Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Christopher Plummer, and many others. Additional recognizable faces in the film include that of young Jaeden Martell from “It,” veteran Don Johnson from “Miami Vice” and legendary puppeteer, director, and actor Frank Oz, who reprised his famous role as Yoda in Johnson’s last Star Wars film.

Although it Came after Great Success Elsewhere, ‘Knives Out’ is Certainly a Passion Project Worth the Wait

Johnson first pitched the idea for “Knives Out” way back in 2010. He wanted to create a classic murder-mystery style film, drawing inspiration from Agatha Christie stories and retro thriller-comedies such as “Murder On The Orient Express” and “The Private Eyes.” The film was not officially announced until September 2018 and began filming in October 2018, wrapping at the end of the year.

“Knives Out” finally premiered at the 2019 Toronto Film Festival and met excellent reviews, being praised for its originality, humor, and star-studded performances. While the film mostly satirizes the bygone murder-mystery genre, it manages to keep the audience engaged and interested all the same. To sum it up in a word—critics deem the film incredibly fun, a thrilling treat bound to make viewers smile and enjoy themselves throughout.

So before we settle in for Johnson’s new Star Wars project, let’s return to something in the spirit of his earlier, indie-style work. Let’s be reminded of the filmmaker’s affinity for screenwriting, comedy, and getting the best out of talented actors. Let’s put franchise fandom and studio divisiveness on hold for a minute and have some fun.

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Climate Solutions, Observation

Climate Change: is Celebrity Climate Activism a Paradox or Wakeup Call?

November 2, 2019 Madison Santel

Does Admitting To Hypocrisy Absolve Celebs Who Support The Extinction Rebellion? Earlier this week, many celebrities signed a letter admitting to being hypocrites for living high-carbon emission lifestyles while still advocating for environmental reformation. Put together by the Extinction Rebellion climate activist group, the letter speaks from the point of view of a celebrity activist. It acknowledges the fact that … Continue reading Climate Change: is Celebrity Climate Activism a Paradox or Wakeup Call? →

Entertainment, Lifestyle, Movies

Man Hunt for Cop Killers in ’21 Bridges’ make for a taut suspense Thriller

Video October 30, 2019 Kat Lee

https://movietrailers.apple.com/movies/independent/21-bridges/21-bridges-trailer-1_h1080p.mov

new Official Trailer For “21 Bridges”

Black Panther Goes Blue—Chadwick Boseman Plays New York City Police Officer In “21 Bridges”

“You got twenty-one bridges in and out of Manhattan, shut ‘em down; Three rivers, close ‘em; four tunnels, block ‘em; Stop every train and loop the subway. Then, we flood the alley with blue.”—This is the plan that Chadwick Boseman’s character devises to catch a pair of cop killers in the new Brian Kirk directed and Russo Brothers produced action-thriller “21 Bridges.”

Over his illustrious acting career, Boseman has been prominently casted to play historical black figures in movies that thematically center around race. In this decade alone, he has portrayed Jackie Robinson, James Brown, and Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. His most recognizable character, however, is the fictional superhero Black Panther, who appears in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. With a story that focuses on African culture and global race relations, Black Panther’s standalone movie raked in over a billion dollars at the box office and earned Marvel its first Best Picture Oscar nomination.

Needless to say, Boseman has been a major supporter of contemporary black cinema, frequently playing the leading man in movies that celebrate the African and African American experience. Whether he is belting out “Get Up” or leading a chant of “Wakanda forever,” the forty-one year old Howard University graduate actor is bound to bring elements of black pride and dignity to his roles.

https://movietrailers.apple.com/movies/independent/21-bridges/21-bridges-trailer-2_h1080p.mov

original Official Trailer for “21 Bridges”

Anti-hero set-up suites, ultimately and makes for a strong performance

It is therefore somewhat curious that Boseman’s newest character is a member of the New York City Police Department. In “21 Bridges,” Boseman plays Detective Andre Davis, the son of an NYPD officer who died in the line of duty years ago. Now, Davis is but a disgraced investigator, but when eight cops are killed during a Manhattan armed robbery, he is recruited to find the culprits and possibly redeem himself in the process.

To carry out this task, Davis locks down the island, and the movie becomes a game of cat and mouse as he tries to squeeze out the criminals. As Davis digs deeper, though, he uncovers greater truths about the situation and realizes that he may be a part of something much larger than the events occurring around him.

On the surface, “21 Bridges” does not seem to have anything to do with race. Superficially, it looks like nothing more than a generic police-centered crime movie. At the same time, though, given the theme of cop-killing and Chadwick Boseman in the lead role—not to mention that most of the other law enforcement in the film are played by white folks and one of the culprits is played by Stephan James from “Selma,” “Race,” and “If Beale Street Could Talk”—it seems safe to say that one of the film’s many twists will eventually put us face to face with race-related conflicts.

The movie’s trailer hints at this ever so fleetingly. In a brief shot where Boseman is standing off with James in a subway car, we hear James say “You’re the only cop tonight who speaks first and shoots second.” Because Boseman plays what seems to be the only black cop in New York and that James plays a black man in jeopardy, this statement is likely not without racial undertones. Thus, although it may not be noticeable at first, “21 Bridges” could very well be a movie that engages in racial themes.

If Boseman delivers on the role and the plot is compelling enough, then it could add to the actor’s ongoing filmography that so far specializes in bringing black stories to wider audiences and starting crucial dialogues about race and society in American cinema and culture.

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Entertainment, Lifestyle, Movies

The Much-Anticipated ‘Frozen II’ is a Predicted Hit Sure to Bring Disney Animation Out of its Cold Shadows

Video October 30, 2019 Madison Santel

https://movietrailers.apple.com/movies/disney/frozen-2/frozen-2-trailer-3_h1080p.mov

New Official Trailer for “Frozen II”

The Current Successes of Disney’s Imperially Strategic IP Expansion Overshadows its Origins as ‘Walt Disney Animation Studios’

With Disney+, Marvel, Star Wars, and Pixar movies dominating Disney’s current agenda, it can sometimes be hard to remember that Walt Disney Animation Studios still exists and produces its own titles. Not only that, but for several decades Walt Disney Animation was essentially what fueled the company. Since the days of Walt himself, Disney’s animation department is what made the company stand out, producing revolutionary cartoons from the groundbreaking Alice Comedies, to Mickey Mouse’s initial appearance in “Steamboat Willie,” to the first animated feature, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.”

Over the years Disney Animation has had its peaks and valleys. From the 1930s through the 1960s, the department created countless classics, with titles such as “Pinocchio,” “Dumbo,” “Peter Pan,” “Cinderella,” “Sleeping Beauty,” and more. Following Walt’s death in 1966, the company faced some difficulties with corporate competition and creative transformations. 1989, however, kicked off what is known as the Disney Renaissance with “The Little Mermaid,” and across the 1990s, Disney Animation rose back to the top with stunning new cartoon movies from “Aladdin,” to “The Lion King,” to “Mulan,” to “Beauty and the Beast,” and so on.

After the Notorious Pixar Acquisition, Disney’s Original Animation Studio has Struggled to Compete with its Own Company

https://movietrailers.apple.com/movies/disney/frozen-2/frozen-2-trailer-2_h1080p.mov

2ND OFFICIAL TRAILER FOR “FROZEN II”

In the 2000s, Disney’s acquisition of Pixar pushed Walt Disney Animation Studios down to being a secondary cartoon juggernaut in its own company. 2D animated features fizzled out with the 1990s Renaissance, as Pixar’s 3D animation became mainstream with one successful project after another.

Disney Animation struggled to make its own transition to 3D animation throughout the decade. Early titles such as “Chicken Little,” “Meet The Robinsons,” and “Bolt” were fun, but far from the Disney standard, and they paled in comparison to Pixar’s releases. It wasn’t until 2010 that Disney Animation had its first glimmer of 3D style reformation with “Tangled.”

Disney’s live-action remakes of its 1990s classics may overshadow its Animation Studio’s place across the 2010s. Nevertheless, Walt Disney Animation Studios has quietly been making a comeback in our current decade, with creative, original stories that have done well on both critical and commercial fronts—and if “Frozen II” meets the success it anticipates, then it could solidify the fact that we are living in a second Disney Animated Renaissance.

https://movietrailers.apple.com/movies/disney/frozen-2/frozen-2-trailer-1_h1080p.mov

ORIGINAL OFFICIAL TRAILER FOR “FROZEN II”

Second Installment will Strive to Match the much loved Original

Although “Tangled” was a fair initial entry for Disney Animation in the 2010s, and they followed it up well with “Wreck-It-Ralph” in 2012, it was not until 2013 that the department struck gold with the empowering, fantastical, and sensational “Frozen.”

Revitalizing the Disney Princess genre with a few modern twists, “Frozen” was a bona fide hit. It was one of the most successful movies of the year and did wonderfully in ancillary markets, with characters that made for popular toys and musical numbers that made their way into everyone’s hearts. It’s song “Let It Go” won Best Original Song at the 86^th Academy Awards, not to mention that the movie as a whole won Best Animated Feature.

Both children and adults appreciated “Frozen” and its bubbly aesthetic was reminiscent of Disney’s traditional animation style, only updated for the modern 3D appeal. The company carried this look into 2014’s “Big Hero 6.” Based on Marvel comics, but not being a part of Disney’s live-action Marvel Cinematic Universe, “Big Hero 6” may not have had the cultural impact that “Frozen” did, but fans and critics loved it. It earned Walt Disney Animation another Best Animated Feature Oscar, making the company back-to-back champions in the category and proving that “Frozen” was not a fluke.

The studio won again in 2016 with “Zootopia,” and received a nomination for “Moana” that same year. Like “Frozen,” “Moana” was a princess movie with an infectious soundtrack and received lots of attention for its celebration of Polynesian culture.

Last year, the company released its first sequel in this contemporary animation cycle: “Ralph Breaks The Internet.” This movie earned Disney Animation another Oscar nomination, showing that they could pull off sequels and giving us reason to believe that “Frozen II” can live up to its predecessor.

Will ‘Frozen II’ Launch Another Disney Animation Renaissance?

And thus, we come full circle. Under our very noses, Disney Animation has pieced together a library of contemporary classics and placed themselves back in the game of major animation studios. “Frozen II” comes out November 22. Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee return from the original as directors along with voice actors Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Jonathan Groff, and Josh Gad. Like the first film, “Frozen II” will focus on sisterhood and wintery magic, but will add more universe building and fantastical elements to the storyline.

So, are we in a second Disney Animation Renaissance? It seems too early to tell, really. Unlike the first Disney Renaissance, Disney Animation is not yet the number one studio in town; it is still behind Pixar and Illumination at the moment. Likewise, despite its recent successes, Disney Animation does not currently define Disney like it did in the past. At the moment, Disney is largely defined by its vast intellectual properties and acquisitions; its animation department is but a tertiary element. Still, Walt Disney Animation Studios is currently pointed in the right direction and has subtly been making progress over the decade. They also just recently signed directors for four additional upcoming film projects. 2019 has already been one of the most financially successful years for Disney, and “Frozen II” is likely to skyrocket them to astronomical heights. If the sequel is as commercially successful and culturally impactful as the first “Frozen,” then it could very well put Disney Animation back in the running for a self-revitalization.

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Entertainment, Lifestyle, Movies

Fighter Tubman’s Harrowing Journey to Escape Slavery is chronicled in ‘Harriet’

Video October 29, 2019 Madison Santel

https://movietrailers.apple.com/movies/focus_features/harriet/harriet-trailer-1_h1080p.mov

official trailer for “harriet”

Kasi Lemmons Aims High With Ambitious Historical Drama Based Off Harriet Tubman’s Extraordinary Life

Actress and director Kasi Lemmons has been a champion of black American cinema for a while now. Ever since she won the Best First Feature Independent Spirit Award in 1997 for “Eve’s Bayou,” she has been making stellar films starring predominantly black casts focusing largely on black experiences.

Diverse, Seasoned Crew Behind the Camera Adds to the Film’s High Expectations

On November 1^st, her latest and most ambitious project in that same vein will hit theaters. “Harriet” is Lemmons’ fifth movie and it tells the story of Harriet Tubman. Part bio-pic, part heritage film, and all parts historical drama, “Harriet” focuses on the slave-turned-abolitionist’s radical acts of unparalleled bravery in the pre-antebellum era that solidified her as a hero in one of America’s darkest hours.

Making a movie about Harriet Tubman is a bold undertaking. When the project was first proposed in 2015, Viola Davis was supposed to direct and star in it. Once that fell through, though, it was handed off to Lemmons. Given her filmography and her academic background—she briefly studied history at UCLA—Lemmons seemed like the perfect fit for the job. Gregory Allen Howard also wrote the story for “Harriet.” A black screenwriter from Virginia, Howard has written other race-themed films such as “Remember The Titans” and “Ali.”

Controversy over Heritage and yet Critics point out lack of Innovation and Pace

Nevertheless, when a movie centers on such a complicated period and such an iconic figure, even the biggest feet can struggle to fill the shoes. “Harriet” had its premiere at the Toronto Film Festival and although Focus Films picked it up for distribution, the movie received nothing more than adequate reviews, getting criticism for being slow and offering nothing new to the biopic genre.

Likewise, even before the movie even came out, Black American activists groups backlashed and protested the film for Cynthia Erivo playing the title character. Erivo is Nigerian-American, and while she is certainly black, she does not have any lineage of enslavement in the United States. Many black activists expressed distaste for this casting decision, deeming it inappropriate for a woman with no slavery in her ancestry to play one of the most important black abolitionists of all time.

The Film’s Release Date could allow for ‘Harriet’ to find a Niche

On the other hand, to the film’s benefit, it will be coming out on a somewhat sleepy weekend at the box office. On November 1^st, its competition will be “Terminator: Dark Fate,” “Arctic Dogs” and “Motherless Brooklyn.” None of these films are really similar, and therefore “Harriet” will be able to stand on its own.

Shortly afterwards, though, “Doctor Sleep” will come out on the 8th and then Disney+ will launch on the 12^th, both of which may dwarf “Harriet” in terms of audience size.

Being an indie-film from a longtime indie director, it is unlikely that “Harriet” was made with the intention of breaking the box office. Still, it would be shame for a movie that chronicles such an important story to go unnoticed.

It goes without saying that Harriet Tubman deserves a movie made about her, one that is truthful to her remarkable life and celebrates all of the courageous acts she committed for America’s enslaved people. Evidently, however, even with the right director and writer, creating such a movie is incredibly difficult.

For a mix of reasons, some of them within and some of them outside of her control, Kasi Lemmons may have bitten off more she could chew with this project, and the final product may unfortunately reflect something below her talents and beneath our ungraspable expectations.

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Entertainment, Lifestyle, Movies

Matt Damon and Christian Bale recreate Le Mans circa 1966 in ‘Ford v Ferrari’

Video October 29, 2019 Madison Santel

https://movietrailers.apple.com/movies/fox/ford-v-ferrari/ford-v-ferrari-trailer-1_h1080p.mov

Official Trailer for “Ford v Ferrari”

Money, Cars, Engineering, Sexy Racing scenes, what could go wrong?

From “Logan” and “Walk The Line” director James Mangold, “Ford v Ferrari” follows the true story of American engineer Carroll Shelby who is solicited by Henry Ford II to build a car that can beat Ferrari at the 1966 Le Mans World Championship in France. Shelby, determined to complete Ford’s ambitious task, insists on putting the wild and loose British driver Ken Miles behind the wheel. What ensues is the fast-playing tale of a couple eccentric and erratic people infiltrating a world filled with professional industrialists to take on the impossible.

Matt Damon will play Shelby in the film and Christian Bale will play Miles. Rather than one being the lead and the other being a supporting role, both actors are co-leading the film, making them both eligible for Best Actor in a Leading Role nominations at the Oscars come February.

With Two Top Tier Hollywood Veterans Co-Leading, Will this mean “Damon v Bale” at the Oscars?

Neither Damon nor Bale is a stranger to the Academy Awards. They each have a trophy and several nominations under their belts. Bale won Best Supporting Actor for his performance in 2010’s “The Fighter.” He was nominated in that same category for his 2015 performance in “The Big Short,” and has two Best Leading Actor nominations for 2013’s “American Hustle” and 2018’s “Vice.”

Damon on the other hand has never won an Oscar for acting. His only win was for 1997’s “Good Will Hunting” in the Best Original Screenplay category. That same year, however, he was nominated for Best Actor in “Good Will Hunting” and received the same nomination eight years later for his role in “The Martian.” He also earned a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his performance in 2009’s “Invictus” and a best picture nomination for producing “Manchester By The Sea” in 2016.

Both actors are evidently prestigious and immensely talented. At the same time, though, it is safe to assume that they are also both hungry for that Best Leading Actor award. If they both deliver in “Ford v Ferrari,” then it could become Damon v Bale at the Oscars.

June Release pushed back and now will fight Streaming Wars for Audience Attention

“Ford v Ferrari” debuted at the Telluride Film Festival earlier this year and played again at the Toronto Film Festival. The film received favorable reviews following both festivals. In particular, critics praised the movie for its race-like rhythm and the performances from its two stars. Additionally, while Mangold’s previous work has been generally dark in tone, “Ford v Ferrari” has an upbeat energy and a good sense of humor.

Under the banner of 20^th Century Fox, the movie was originally scheduled to come out on June 28^th. However, after the merger between Fox and Disney, the release date was pushed back to put it closer to Hollywood’s awards season. It’s new November 15^th release date does not give it much rivalry for opening weekend at the box office. However, it is sandwiched between the release of “Doctor Sleep” the week before and “Frozen 2” the week after. Likewise, Disney+ comes out on the 12^th, which could very well keep people away from the theaters for a few days. Thus, when it comes to “Ford v Ferrari,” the key word may be competition. It is a movie about the clash between two automobile tycoons, focusing on the strained relationship between a radical engineer and a hostile driver. Furthermore, upon release, “Ford v Ferrari” will have to prove itself against other forms of entertainment coming out in November, and come award season, we may see Damon and Bale taking the stage against each other for their two performances in the same film.

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Entertainment, Lifestyle, Movies

Tom Hanks employs Radical Kindness to become Mr. Rogers in ‘A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood’

Video October 29, 2019 Kat Lee

https://movietrailers.apple.com/movies/sony/a-beautiful-day-in-the-neighborhood/a-beautiful-day-in-the-neighborhood-trailer-1_h1080p.mov

official trailer for “A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood”

Nostalgia Gives Birth to a Biopic that Demands a Celestial Talent to Honor his Halo-like Memory

After last year’s Oscar nominated documentary “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” stirred up nostalgia for the retro children’s show “Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood” and its wholesome host Fred Rogers, it was only a matter of time before we saw the loveable man portrayed in a feature.

In January 2018, Sony’s Tristar Pictures bought the rights to a screenplay titled “Are You My Friend.” Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster wrote the script over six years ago and it earned a place on the 2013 blacklist. Centered on Fred Rogers, the story focuses on his relationship with a skeptical Esquire reporter who finds a transformed outlook on life when he sits down to interview the endearing kids show host.

The project was retitled “A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood” and from the earliest stages of development, one question was on everyone’s mind: who could portray the renowned Mr. Rogers on the screen? Being a legendary figure for an entire generation’s childhood and holding an unparalleled demeanor of authenticity, gentility, and kindness, not just anyone could fit Mr. Rogers’ white-laced, sky-blue sneakers.

Therefore, one of TriStar’s first decisions in pre-production was to cast somebody who could accurately and effectively capture Mr. Rogers’ quasi-celestial star power. The studio also also needed to find somebody who could portray Rogers in his middle ages, as the film takes place in the mid-nineties, towards the end of his career.

Rather than go for an unknown to play the lead, Sony aimed high and casted the incomparable Tom Hanks, turning the project into an image of an icon playing an icon.

Make no mistake, Tom Hanks has more than enough talent to play Mr. Rogers. With two Oscar wins and three additional nominations under his belt, the sixty-three year old actor seems up to snuff for any role thrown his way. Over the years he’s been in everything from comedies to dramas to action flicks to musicals. He’s played diverse fictional characters from the dim-witted Forrest Gump to a literal man-child in “Big,” and has portrayed several real figures such as Captain Richard Phillips, Pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, Ben Bradlee, Walt Disney and more—not to mention his unmistakable voice-acting as Woody in the “Toy Story” franchise.

Icon portrays Icon—The Dilemma of Tom Hanks as Mr. Rogers

Indeed, nothing seems beyond Tom Hank’s abilities, and his talent is appreciated widely enough that his mere presence on screen is likely to draw an audience. That being said, it is possible that when it comes to playing Fred Rogers, Hanks’ strength may actually be his weakness, and his recognizability may paradoxically end up detrimental to the performance.

As aforementioned, Mr. Rogers is an icon. There can only be one of him. No matter who plays him, audiences will naturally notice inconsistencies between the actor’s portrayal of the man and the man himself. If an unknown actor played Rogers, however, then at least there would be a blank canvas on which the film could project their depiction of him.

With Tom Hanks being an icon as well, audiences will inevitably see him within the character. No matter how well he portrays Rogers, Tom Hanks will always be Tom Hanks to the audience. Thus, viewers may struggle to overlook the actor when aiming to appreciate the character.

This is already somewhat evidenced in the film’s trailer. While Hanks seems to be doing a good job playing the lead character, there is one noticeably uncanny element—his voice. Both Hanks and Rogers have recognizable voices, but they are very different in tone. When Hanks tries to impersonate Rogers’ light, gentle voice, we cannot help but hear traces of the actor’s signature deep drawl underneath. This is just one manifestation of the dilemma that comes with Hanks as Rogers.

None of this is to say that Tom Hanks will not be able to pull the role off. Stranger casting choices have surprised us in the past, and “A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood” already received positive acclaim following its premiere at the Toronto Film Festival. We are just noting that despite the star power that Hanks brings to the project, there is a cost to that star power in a role like this. The actor will have to deliver something truly above and beyond to convince us that he is the real Fred Rogers and not just Tom Hanks sporting a red-sweater, white shirt, tie, and khakis, singing along in the Land of Make-Believe.

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Entertainment, Movies

‘The Current War: Director’s Cut’

Video October 21, 2019 Madison Santel

https://movietrailers.apple.com/movies/independent/the-current-war-directors-cut/the-current-war-directors-cut-trailer-1_h1080p.mov

Official Trailer for “The Current War: Director’s Cut”

Alfonso Gomez-Rejon’s Reshoot Aims To Overcome The Weinstein Company’s Creative Stains

At the end of this week, David Glasser’s young 101 Studios will release director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon’s latest film, “The Current War: Director’s Cut”—and the second half of that title is just as crucial as the first.

“The Current War” first came out way back in 2017, debuting at the Toronto International Film Festival. Despite having an impressive cast featuring Benedict Cumberbatch, Michael Shannon, Nicholas Hoult, and Tom Holland, the film received strikingly negative reviews following the festival. Honestly though, Gomez-Rejon expected nothing else at the time.

‘The Current War’ before the ‘Director’s Cut’ Messed Up by Harvey Weinstein

Although Gomez-Rejon did direct this initial cut, the film was edited under the domineering influence of executive producer Harvey Weinstein. Initially a product of The Weinstein Company, “The Current War” may have been Gomez-Rejon’s vision to begin with, but Weinstein reportedly gutted the project into something that the director ended up feeling ashamed of.

Following the Toronto Film Festival in September of 2017, “The Current War” was scheduled for a worldwide release in December of that same year. However, the #MeToo movement unveiling multiple instances of sexual harassment perpetrated by Weinstein led to the swift fall of the entertainment tycoon, and his renowned company went down with him.

https://movietrailers.apple.com/movies/weinstein/the-current-war/the-current-war-trailer-1_h1080p.mov

Original Official Trailer for “The Current War”

“The Current War” was thus stuck in a rare state of pre-release limbo, with its primary distribution company all but vanishing before it could hit screens across the globe. While Gomez-Rejon could have taken this opportunity to bury the past and try to forget about the film’s initial failure, he instead decided to make the most of his unique situation. With Weinstein out of the picture, he resolved to reshoot and re-edit “The Current War” to fit his original vision.

With #MeToo chucking Weinstein out, Gomez-Rejon’s Original Vision is In: A Compelling Story that Does Justice to its Historical Roots

Two years after production first wrapped on “The Current War,” Gomez-Rejon was able to get all of the primary actors back on set in London to help him recreate his cut of the film. The new version includes additional scenes that did not make it past development under Weinstein’s control. Likewise, it refocuses the film as a character-based story rather than a jargony historical drama.

Narratively, “The Current War” is about the notorious rivalry between radical inventors Thomas Edison (Cumberbatch) and George Westinghouse (Shannon) at the end of the nineteenth century. In the movie’s dramatization of true events, the two visionary minds compete for the honor of lighting the 1893 Chicago’s Worlds Fair, Edison relying on the Direct Current system for electric light and Westinghouse committed to the Alternating Current system. Also featured in the movie will be historical figures such as inventor Nicola Tesla (Hoult), businessmen Samuel Insull (Holland) and J.P Morgan (Matthew Macfadyen), and spouses Mary Edison (Tuppence Middleton) and Marguerite Westinghouse (Katherine Waterston).

The new director’s cut will retain the bones of the same story, but it will tell that story in a way that Gomez-Rejon sees fitting and just. This is why distinctly adding “Directors Cut” to the title, rather than just putting it as an afterthought, is so important. By specifically calling the project “The Current War: Director’s Cut,” Gomez-Rejon is rebranding the film as something separate from the infamous picture that aired at Toronto in 2017.

Of course, this cut would not be possible without a few powerful allies in Gomez-Rejon’s corner. 101 Studio bought the film’s rights in April, promising to spearhead its wide release. Likewise, long time electricity buff, Timur Bekmambetov, director of “Ben-Hur,” “Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter,” and “Wanted,” stepped in to help Gomez-Rejon finance the reshoots.

‘The Director’s’ Allies helped make the ‘Cut’, especially Martin Scorsese who Saved the Day

The most prestigious help came from none other than Martin Scorsese, who took over as an executive producer in the wake of Weinstein’s downfall. Unlike Weinstein, though, Scorsese took a hands-off approach to the project, helping out when needed, but letting Gomez-Rejon follow his own path. A director himself, Scorsese had respect for the creative process and did not overstep with his authority as producer.

A few lucky viewers have already attended pre-screenings for “The Current War: Director’s Cut” and the verdict has been positive. Most say that the new version vastly exceeds the quality of its predecessor. So rest easy filmgoers, historians, and electricity connoisseurs, for the story of Edison and Westinghouse may finally be told with justice, and regardless of critical reception altogether, Alfonso Gomez-Rejon will be able to continue his career knowing that “The Current War” exists the way he wants it to.

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News

This Week: Stories from the Climate Crisis, Tech, Tesla, Apple and more

Video October 18, 2019 Madison Santel

Just in case you missed our recent coverage on the intersections of the Climate Crisis, Tech and Entertainment, we’ve compiled a list of articles for you to check out:

Greta Thunberg: Climate Activist focused on Change now, not hopes for an Uncertain Future

Greta Thunberg is a sixteen-year-old Swedish girl who is rapidly becoming a flash point for those in the movement to raise awareness of the global emergency of global warming and climate change.

The Potential of Self-Driving Cars in Entertainment Media: First Foray

While it might be easy to imagine people in self-driving cars perpetually staring at their smart phones or laptops, there is the possibility that entertainment companies could collaborate with vehicle manufacturers to change the very design of vehicles and make car-riding a transmedia experience.

iOS 13 Tips: How to Use and Manage the new Share Menu for iPhone and iPadOS

The share menu can vary from app to app, many use it most often from within Safari or the Mail app, however, for this video, we chose the Apple News app as the operations are essentially the same.

Leonardo DiCaprio headlines Global Citizens Festival, continues fight to raise awareness of Climate Crisis

Leonardo DiCaprio had made several stances against climate change over the years. The actor spearheaded the issue in his 2016 documentary “Before The Flood” and even used the stage during his long-awaited Oscar acceptance speech to talk about the importance of preserving our natural world. Evidently, the man is a passionate environmentalist.

Tesla and Elon Musk are Smiling: Gas Pumps Out, Charging Stations In

The news here, however is that these are stations that have decided to abandon gas, oil and, presumably, gasoline-based auto maintenance for EV charging and convenience. This is a trend that, hopefully, will accelerate.

‘Scandalous’: National Inquirer sets the Standard for Questionable News Coverage

If one even notices the title of the film printed in smaller letters in enormous tagline’s shadows, one might expect that “Scandalous” isa movie about conspiracy theories or some great national collusion that ties all of these pop-culture headlines in some absurd way. However, beneath the title on the poster, seemingly hidden, is the film’s subtitle. It reads “The Untold Story Of The National Enquirer.“

5 New Trailers just Released: Check out the future fare from Sony, Disney and more

This week had a gaggle of new trailers hitting the street so we decided to choose five to showcase and feature in this post.

Eight Movies Out Now you might have missed

Just in case you missed our coverage of recent films, out now in theaters, we’ve compiled a graphic tour of a few noteworthy (or at least to be considered) titles among them.

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Entertainment, Lifestyle, Movies

5 Films Out Now: Check out official trailers from Disney, Sony and More

Video October 18, 2019 Kat Lee

This weekend has a number of new movie releases to look out for so we decided to choose five to showcase and feature in this post.

https://movietrailers.apple.com/movies/disney/maleficent-mistress-of-evil/maleficent-mistress-of-evil-trailer-2_h1080p.mov

OFFICIAL TRAILER FOR “MALEFICENT: MISTRESS OF EVIL” / Disney

“Sleeping Beauty” is certainly a timeless tale, and thus Maleficent is an everlasting villain. However, there is one recent performance of the antagonist that stands above the rest. And that is Angelina Jolie’s.

https://movietrailers.apple.com/movies/independent/the-lighthouse/the-lighthouse-trailer-2_h1080p.mov

OFFICIAL TRAILER FOR “THE LIGHTHOUSE”

Set in the 1890s, this upcoming black-and-white horror movie follows the story of two lighthouse keepers as they battle cabin fever, intoxication, madness, mystery, and mayhem on a secluded New England island.

https://movietrailers.apple.com/movies/fox_searchlight/jojo-rabbit/jojo-rabbit-trailer-2_h1080p.mov

official trailer for “jojo rabbit”

“Jojo Rabbit” is about a young boy in the Hitler Youth. Like many German kids of the time, he aspires to be a Nazi soldier when he grows up. He buys into the party’s ideologies and believes their propaganda. That is until he comes face to face with a Jewish girl and learns, despite what the Nazis have taught him, that she is harmless, pleasant, and appealing.

https://movietrailers.apple.com/movies/sony_pictures/zombieland-double-tap/zombieland-double-tap-trailer-1_h1080p.mov

OFFICIAL TRAILER FOR “ZOMBIELAND: DOUBLE TAP” / SOny Pictures

“Zombieland: Double Tap” is a follow-up to the 2009 zombie-horror-comedy “Zombieland.” It has been ten years since the first movie hit theaters and surprised audiences with its humor and fresh take on the genre. Fortunately, despite how long it has taken to produce a sequel, the aforementioned original cast and director are back in their rightful places for the new film.

https://movietrailers.apple.com/movies/samuel_goldwyn/paradise-hills/paradise-hills-trailer-1_h1080p.mov

OFFICIAL TRAILER FOR “PARADISE HILLS”

In this feminist dystopia, critics recognized that the women in “Paradise Hills” went beyond simple archetypes, and offered an array of original voices.

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Entertainment, Movies

‘Motherless Brooklyn’: Edward Norton in triple-threat tour-de-force

Video October 15, 2019 Madison Santel

https://movietrailers.apple.com/movies/wb/motherless-brooklyn/motherless-brooklyn-trailer-1_h1080p.mov

Official Trailer for ‘Motherless Brooklyn’

Edward Norton Returns to Director’s Chair for 1950s Detective Drama

The last time Edward Norton directed, it was nineteen years ago for a forgotten Ben Stiller romantic comedy called “Keeping the Faith.” Since then, the three time Oscar nominated actor has remained primarily in front of the camera, starring in several iconic movies across the twentieth century and only occasionally dabbling in producing, cinematography, or editing.

On November 1^st, however, Norton returns to the director’s chair once again, this time for a gritty, 1950s detective drama based off of a screenplay he wrote. The film is called “Motherless Brooklyn.” It is an adaptation of a 1999 National Book Critics Circle Award-winning novel by Jonathan Lethem. Norton’s screenplay of the story will go down as his first writing credit.

Starring a Detective with a Disability, Never-Before-Seen on the Silver Screen

“Motherless Brooklyn” is about a private investigator working in mid-twentieth century New York City—Brooklyn, obviously. Played by Norton himself, the private eye is named Lionel Essrog, and despite his daring profession, he is an estranged and lonely man who suffers from Tourette’s Syndrome.

Stuttering, twitchy, and seemingly nervous all the time, Essrog is not your everyday Hollywood protagonist. He is vulnerable and smitten with anxiety, as the movie will show by telling the story from his point of view. Essrog is a new kind of character for Norton as well, for the actor usually plays the serious, smart, but oftentimes devilish lead. Not since “Primal Fear”, where he played a schizophrenic murder suspect, with a severe stutter, has he dabbled in this type of over-the-top character portrayal. That performance was his career debut, and breakthrough, earning a Golden Globe supporting actor win and an Oscar nomination for same.

In the film, Essrog’s only friend is Frank Minna, his mentor played by Bruce Willis. After Minna is murdered, the crux of the story centers on Essrog trying to figure out who done it. Using his condition not as a disability, but as a resource for understanding and analyzing situations, Essrog employs his Tourette’s to his advantage, and they aid him in cracking the case.

Classic Oscar Bait Elements, perhaps, but Will it Play in 2020?

It is a classic detective story with an original twist. Everything about “Motherless Brooklyn” fits in with the bygone noir genre, but instead of having the leading character be overly hard-boiled, he is highly susceptible and must navigate a corrupt urban world while also dealing with his own inner-turmoil.

Alongside Norton and Willis, Alec Baldwin and Willem Dafoe also star in the film, making the cast pretty star studded. On top of disability, the movie’s themes will also include power, its limits, its ethics, and the layers of depravity that surround it. While the conventional noir genre may be dead in the twenty-first century, those themes have proven themselves timeless. Like any good noir film, “Motherless Brooklyn” is labyrinth-like in its structure and bound to throw a couple of unexpected narrative turns our way.

Although film noir may not be on the brink of a revival, “Motherless Brooklyn” could still be a stimulating project. The movie has clear talent and thematic relevance on its side, and the script is based off of popular source material that feels both familiar and fresh.

Given its 1950s setting and retro noir aspects, “Motherless Brooklyn” is not exactly doing anything to combat a whitewashed Hollywood. However, assuming that the movie handles it with appropriate sensitivity, we applaud Norton for bringing matters of disability to the big screen. Let’s hope that he plays the part with the grace it deserves, does right by the misunderstood trope, and perhaps even demystifies a few assumptions about the condition in the process.

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Entertainment, Lifestyle, Movies

‘Western Stars’: Springsteen’s Early Roots and Haunting Echos of Woody G.

Video October 15, 2019 Kat Lee

https://movietrailers.apple.com/movies/wb/western-stars/western-stars-trailer-1_h1080p.mov

Official Trailer for “Western Stars”

Springsteen’s Introspective Brilliance Rocks onto the Big Screen in Lieu of a Concert Tour

Rock-n-roll legend Bruce Springsteen has appeared in films before. From dancing with Courtney Cox in his own music video, to chiming in on different rockumentaries, to making a hilarious cameo in “High Fidelity,” the Boss is no stranger to the screen. This is not even to mention the nearly three hundred movie soundtracks that he has appeared on—winning an Oscar for his original song “Streets of Philadelphia” in 1993 and more recently having a film made directly about his music in 2019’s “Blinded By The Light.”

On October 25^th, Springsteen invites his audience to enjoy a new kind of filmic experience to compliment his music. Springsteen’s latest album, “Western Stars,” came out in May, and like all of the rocker’s work, it is ruggedly poetic and grippingly suggestive of something that feels fundamentally American. Instead of going on a tour to promote this album, though, Springsteen is releasing a film to accompany it.

A Documentary-Music Video that Expands Upon Bruce Springsteen’s Latest Album

“Western Stars” (the film) is a cinematic endeavor that combines many different kinds of footage and stories, all set to the music from Springsteen’s latest record. It is partially an elongated music video that goes on for the album’s entire twelve tracks. At the same time, it is also a documentary, using found-footage and voice over narration to create a commentary about Springsteen’s life and career. Then again, it is also a concert video, as it incorporates live performances from several Bruce shows.

A conglomeration of mediums and modes, “Western Stars” is a unique project. Given its motley style, the film is very hard to pin as a particular art form. It is just as musical as it is cinematic—a visual album with Springsteen as the glue holding everything together.

A Nostalgic Directorial Collaboration Rooted in Springsteen’s Earliest Years

Springsteen himself directed the movie alongside longtime collaborator Thom Zimny. In addition to Springsteen’s brilliant lyric-writing abilities, the singer also published a memoir in 2016 and curated his own Broadway performance in 2017. Both of these projects were highly esteemed, demonstrating that he knows how to communicate a story or message in more than just a musical medium.

Zimny, on the other hand, is a filmmaker first and foremost. He has been with Bruce since 2001, when he directed the concert video, “Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band: Live In New York City.” Since then they have worked together on numerous documentaries and music videos. “Western Stars” however, is a first for both of them—an unprecedented blend of all the cinematic forms they’ve worked in so far.

“Western Stars” debuted at the Toronto Film Festival earlier this year, and it received positive reviews. It is praised for the way it captures and expands upon everything Springsteen says on the album. Although the musician hails from New Jersey, the film has an appropriately Western energy, with desert-country imagery that compliments the songs’ themes regarding growing up, growing old, and navigating your inner-American frontier through solemn ballads and explosive hard rock.

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Climate Solutions, Earth and Ecology, News

Leonardo DiCaprio headlines Global Citizens Festival, in Climate Crisis awareness fight

October 11, 2019 Madison Santel

Celebrities Took the Stage at Global Citizens Festival in Central Park… Leonardo DiCaprio has consistently made strong statements in efforts to raise awareness of the Climate Crisis over the years. The actor spearheaded the issue in his 2016 documentary “Before The Flood” and even used the stage during his long-awaited Oscar acceptance speech to talk … Continue reading Leonardo DiCaprio headlines Global Citizens Festival, in Climate Crisis awareness fight →

Entertainment, Lifestyle, Movies

‘Zombieland: Double Tap’, Woody Harrelson, Jessie Eisenberg, Emma Stone star in Sequel

Video October 11, 2019 Kat Lee

https://movietrailers.apple.com/movies/sony_pictures/zombieland-double-tap/zombieland-double-tap-trailer-1_h1080p.mov

Official Trailer for “Zombieland: Double Tap”

A Decade in the Making, showing how Predecessor was a Premonition Foretold

The trailer for “Venom” director Ruben Fleischer’s new movie starts out with a feeling of prestige. Over intense music, we see shots of an impressive cast as text introduces Academy Award nominees Woody Harrelson, Jessie Eisenberg, and Abigail Breslin, and Academy Award winner Emma Stone. Just when you start to think you are watching an ad for the latest star-studded, Oscar-bait drama, you realize that the lineup feels somewhat familiar.

Suddenly the dramatic music comes to a halt as the shot of Emma Stone widens to reveal her loading, aiming, and firing a grenade launcher at a walking corpse. Music starts up again, but this time it is Ice Cube’s Click Clack-Get Back as the characters wade through a field of zombies towards a deteriorating Whitehouse.

Suddenly, we know where we are… We are back in Zombieland!

In addition to Fleischer returning to the director’s chair and Harrelson, Eisenberg, Breslin, and Stone reprising their roles, writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick are also coming back for “Double Tap.” Since the first film came out, Reese and Wernick have become contemporary comedy legends, having written both of the “Deadpool” movies.

Joining the writing staff for “Double Tap” is also “The Expendables” and “Godzilla” screenwriter Dave Callaham. “Double Tap” will be the first of many upcoming blockbuster projects for Callaham. Over the next few years, he is lined up to write for “Wonder-Woman: 1984,” “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 2,” and Marvel’s “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.”

Stellar Cast and Creative Team should produce Entertaining Bulls-eye

If the creative minds behind “Zombieland: Double Tap” are any signifier, the movie will not lack in humor or action. Like the first “Zombieland,” the sequel’s story takes place in a post-apocalyptic America, centering on a quartet of survivors who have come to depend on each other as a motley, makeshift family.

This time around, the characters are seeking refuge in middle-America, combating new kinds of zombies and encountering other survivors in the process. Joining the cast to play these other survivors are Zoey Deutch, Avan Jogia, Rosario Dawson, Luke Wilson, and Thomas Middleditch. The movie will also have a couple cameos from the likes of Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd.

Of course, comedy has noticeably changed since 2009. Ten years ago, the most talked about comedies were “Step Brothers,” “The Hangover,” and “Pineapple Express.” Will Farrell’s absurdist humor was still at its peak and Seth Rogen’s stoner bromance style felt fresh. These icons led the genre in a very goofy direction at the turn of the decade.

Today, however, audiences have shown that they want something a bit more socially telling. Viewers desire either genre parodies such as “Deadpool” or “Shazam!” or they want political satires that cross over into dramas such as “Vice” or “The Big Short.”

This raises the question of whether something as silly as rednecks and nerds killing zombies in over-the-top violent fashions will still be suitable for contemporary audiences?

More Apropos in 2019 than 2009?

In response to that valid query, perhaps we can look at the first “Zombieland” not as a product of 2009, but rather as a film that was ahead of its time. After all, the movie is a parody of a specific horror sub-genre and it blends comedy with action quite well, leaving viewers feeling as if they laughed, but also enjoyed a solid zombie movie in its own right.

Lastly, “Zombieland” is not without its own pinch of satire, as it characterizes certain America stereotypes and pokes fun at low-mimetic people by placing them in high-stakes situations. As previously described, the trailer begins with the characters fighting zombies on the Whitehouse lawn. In the next scene, Woody Harrelson’s hickish character is sitting in the oval office, explaining how he would make a good president. While such jokes could be excused as mere gags ten years ago, they now have a touch of real-world relevance.

In total, “Zombieland: Double Tap” promises to be the thrilling, yet gut-busting action comedy that we are expecting. Like its 2009 predecessor, it will cross boundaries and use humor to deliver a message while winking at the audience in the process. In 2019, though, that message may be more divisive or potent, ultimately making the wink a whole lot less subtle.

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Entertainment, Movies, Politics

‘Scandalous’: National Inquirer sets the Standard for Questionable News Coverage

Video October 11, 2019 Kat Lee

https://movietrailers.apple.com/movies/magnolia_pictures/scandalous/scandalous-trailer-1b_h1080p.mov

official trailer for “scandalous”

“Scandalous” Documentary Film Reveals the Corrupt History Behind the National Enquirer, Entertains with a point about Fake News

The promotional poster for Magnolia Pictures and Mark Landsman’s new documentary shows off in giant bold letters the alluring tagline, “Sex, Drugs, and UFOs.” Billowing around the words are a bunch of newspaper front pages, each with an infamous headline such as “Flying Saucers Are Real,” “I Saw O.J. At The Murder Scene,” or “Elvis: The Untold Story.”

If one even notices the title of the film printed in smaller letters in enormous tagline’s shadows, one might expect that “Scandalous” is a movie about conspiracy theories or some great national collusion that ties all of these pop-culture headlines together in some absurd way. However, beneath the title on the poster, seemingly hidden, is the film’s subtitle. It reads “The Untold Story Of The National Enquirer.”

For sixty years, the National Enquirer has been an American news source reporting on the latest events in pop-culture gossip, catering their articles to the average everyday American who is voyeuristically intrigued in the lives of celebrities and public figures. As Landsman’s documentary shows, however, the National Enquirer toed an unsteady line between information and entertainment, using borderline unethical or illegal reporting techniques to get the full scoop, and then milking that scoop for all its worth in order to sell more copies.

Living Squarely in a Gray Area and Embracing Ambiguity

Thus, despite the way the film is marketed on the poster, “Scandalous” is not about conspiracy theories, but rather about a single pseudo-news source that changed the game of reporting by promoting stories that were overblown and exaggerated for the American public.

It is actually a strangely relevant topic in today’s world. Obviously, the National Enquirer still exists—James Cohen of Hudson News recently purchased the company—and it probably still partakes in some of the ethical ambiguities covered in the film. On a larger scale, though, today’s political debates regarding fake news give “Scandalous” a timely twist. Did the National Enquirer ever explicitly produce fake news in their articles? Perhaps not. But did they ever overstate certain details and indulge in stories for the sake of gaining readers’ attention? Most certainly. Then again, what newspaper hasn’t?

There is somewhat of a paradox here, for when the National Enquirer bends the rules in order to get a story, it comes off as an egregious affront. At the same time, though, when a more esteemed news source such as The New York Times or the Washington Post goes undercover to retrieve information, they are usually applauded for exercising freedom of the press. Sometimes Steven Spielberg even commends them with an Oscar nominated movie starring Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep.

Perhaps it is the fact that the National Enquirer is not usually publishing stories that are pertinent to the American people’s safety or enlightenment. Exercising freedom of the press may be admired when it is for investigating an issue of national importance, but not so much when it is investigating a celebrity couple’s latest fight. Then, it just comes off as a paparazzi-like invasion of privacy.

For a cinephile, it is also hard to watch a film like “Scandalous” and wonder where the documentary itself falls on that line between information and entertainment. Documentaries, existing somewhere betwixt feature films or news reports, are neither entirely fictional nor restricted to objectivity. Typically, they are didactic in some way, but also artistic and meant to be please the audience to a certain degree. While we are watching “Scandalous” criticize the National Enquirer’s techniques and rhetoric, we may find ourselves questioning what kinds of stylistic choices or intentional omissions Mark Landsman made when curating the film.

The National Enquirer’s history is not all black and white. In their questionable form of journalism, they actually ended up uncovering and reporting on some pertinent information over the years. Do these occasional revelations really justify the source’s tactics? On the other hand, though, do they really need to justify themselves? After all, they do claim to be a newspaper.

“Scandalous” might not be the fake news story that we were expecting right now, and despite the criticism it offers, it may not be entirely innocent or objective in its own right. Nevertheless, it is subtly timely. Enough so that we just might learn something pertinent about journalism, history, and ethics along the way. Or we might just choose to enjoy it as an interesting exposé about a fascinating news source that reported on some of the biggest stories in pop-culture across the second half of the twentieth century. When it comes to watching a documentary film, the choice is up to the viewer.

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Entertainment, Lifestyle, Movies

‘Maleficent: Mistress of Evil’: Angelina Jolie is Back in Anti-Hero Sequel

Video October 11, 2019 Madison Santel

https://movietrailers.apple.com/movies/disney/maleficent-mistress-of-evil/maleficent-mistress-of-evil-trailer-2_h1080p.mov

new Official trailer for “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil”

Will Sleeping Beauty Spin-off Franchise continue Disney Magic?

Joker is not the only iconic villain getting a feature film this fall. On October 18^th, Academy Award winning actress Angelina Jolie will be returning to the role of “Sleeping Beauty” antagonist Maleficent in “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil.”

While the story of “Sleeping Beauty” dates back to the twelfth century, it was Walt Disney who gave Maleficent her name and famous look in the popular 1959 animated film adaptation. In that movie, Maleficent is the main villain, an evil fairy who curses Princess Aurora to die before her sixteenth birthday—that is unless she is saved by true love’s kiss, which being a Disney princess, she of course is.

Since Disney’s rendition of the classic fairy tale, Maleficent has been a pop-culture icon. For the past sixty years, her greenish face, dark cloak, horned crown, and crow-like aura have made her the embodiment of wickedness. She stands alongside Ursula, Scar, Jafar, and Captain Hook as the greatest Disney villains of all time.

In the 1959 movie, Eleanor Audley provided the voice of Maleficent—the same actress who voiced Cinderella’s evil stepmother nine years earlier. Over the years a few different actresses have taken on the role. Lois Nettleton voiced Maleificent in the 2001 “Mickey’s House of Villains”; Kristin Chenoweth played her in the 2015 Disney Channel TV movie “Descendants”; and several women have portrayed her in different theatrical productions.

https://movietrailers.apple.com/movies/disney/maleficent-mistress-of-evil/maleficent-mistress-of-evil-trailer-1_h1080p.mov

ORIGINAL OFFICIAL TRAILER FOR “MALEFICENT: MISTRESS OF EVIL”

Evil Rendition is Part of the Appeal

Jolie first played Maleficent in the 2014 “Maleficent.” This live-action Disney film was an alternate telling of the Sleeping Beauty story with an obvious focus on the villain. Nevertheless, Jolie did not reimagine Maleficent as empathetic. Despite being the main character, Jolie’s Maleficent is as despicable as ever. Fortunately, her haughty, bad-tempered sternness is exactly what makes her so entertaining. While it is incredibly difficult to pull of a live-action performance that does justice to an iconic cartoon character, Jolie has the right amount of attitude and moxie to pull it off.

“Maleficent” was somewhat ahead of its time too, as it came out one year before Disney’s 2015 “Cinderella,” which kicked off the studio’s current cycle of live-action remakes. Today, “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” feels a little more expected, as this year has already given live-action reimaginings of “Dumbo,” “Aladdin,” and “The Lion King” and will get one of “Lady and the Tramp” with the release of Disney+ in November.

While some fans criticize Disney for these constant rehashes, shaming the company for lacking creativity and constantly chasing the easy dollar, “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” promises to offer a bit more novelty. Although the story is based off of characters and concepts from “Sleeping Beauty,” its screenplay is original. The narrative appropriately picks up a few years after the 2014 film left off. Princess Aurora is grown up and wants to marry her beloved Prince Phillip. Unenthused about this prospect, Maleficent is determined to put a stop to the wedding, and will employ all the dark magic she has to do so.

https://movietrailers.apple.com/movies/disney/maleficent-mistress-of-evil/maleficent-mistress-of-evil-creating-anicon_h1080p.mov

Featurette – “Creating an Icon”: FOR “MALEFICENT: MISTRESS OF EVIL”

Although not Prime Marketing Focus, Maleficent will be in great company

The story will dig deeper into the Aurora’s royal family, their political ties, and the secret supernaturalism that lurks within the film’s fantastical world. As it is foremost a story about the villain, it will obviously be dark and moody in tone. However, it is still a PG rated Disney movie, so there is bound to be a high degree of playfulness, adventure, and family fun as well.

Returning for the sequel along with Jolie, the young Elle Fanning is reprising her role as Princess Aurora. Juno Temple, Imelda Staunton, and Sam Riley will also be returning from the 2014 film. Joining the cast will be the talented Michelle Pfeiffer, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Harris Dickinson, and Ed Skerein amongst others. Behind the camera, we will also see Joachim Rønning replace Robert Stromberg as director and Ellen Mirojnick replace Anna B. Sheppard as costume designer—the only category that the 2014 movie received an Oscar nomination for.

With all of the live action remakes, record breaking Marvel movies, “Toy Story 4,” and Disney+ preorders, 2019 has been one of Disney’s most profitable years to date… and we are still yet to see what kind of damage “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” and “Frozen 2” do at the box-office. Because of the inner-studio competition, “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” will likely not be the company’s most lucrative film of the year. It will also have to go up against “Zombieland: Double Tap” on opening weekend. Nevertheless, with strong marketing, star power, and a considerable fan base, it will likely fare well enough financially, and might just get some positive critical reception as well, all in all being a satisfying project for audiences and Disney alike.

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Entertainment, Movies

‘Maleficent: Mistress of Evil’: Angelina Jolie is Back in new Anti-Hero Sequel

October 10, 2019 Madison Santel

Will Sleeping Beauty Spin-off Franchise continue Disney Magic? Joker is not the only iconic villain getting a feature film this fall. On October 18th, Academy Award winning actress Angelina Jolie will be returning to the role of “Sleeping Beauty” antagonist Maleficent in “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil.” While the story of “Sleeping Beauty” dates back to the twelfth century, … Continue reading ‘Maleficent: Mistress of Evil’: Angelina Jolie is Back in new Anti-Hero Sequel →

Entertainment, Movies

‘Mary’: Gary Oldman stars in High Seas Horror Movie

Video October 8, 2019 Kat Lee

https://movietrailers.apple.com/movies/independent/mary/mary-trailer-1_h1080p.mov

official trailer for “mary”

Norman Rockwell Harmony Voyage leads to Dangers from Within

The trailer for director Michael Goi and writer Anthony Jaswinski’s new film “Mary,” starts out feeling quite wholesome, as a father played by Gary Oldman buys an old sailboat from a shipyard with the intention of getting into the charter-boat business. First, however, he takes his family on a bonding voyage across the sea. Initially, looks like a hopeful, albeit a little sappy, family drama that will leave you feeling inspired and optimistic.

Once the ship is out at sea, though, and the family is alone on open waters, things start to get strange. The family’s youngest daughter named Mary starts talking to an imaginary friend aboard the ship, and soon enough, this imaginary relationship leads her to do sadistic things. The young girl becomes a threat to the family as they realize that the old ship is cursed and that everyone who has sailed it before has ended up engulfed in tragedy.

So no, “Mary” is not the pleasant melodrama that we might have been expecting or even hoping for. Instead it is yet another horror movie, and while the ship setting looks somewhat original, the possessed little girl trope and the cursed old relic convention cannot help but render the film a little clichéd.

The cursed ship in “Mary” is not an ocean liner or even a yacht. It is a small, manual sailboat that probably has no more than a single room beneath the deck. This setting gives the film a terrifically claustrophobic feel, which could further the horror aspect, but we have to question how much can actually be done within such a small setting.

After a while, it is very possible that the confined space will lose its suspense. The film really seems to be banking on the ship setting as its most distinguishing aspect, as even the trailer heavily explicates the fact that there is nowhere to run on a ship. Meanwhile, Gary Oldman’s character, the captain and family patriarch, must consider weather he should keep sailing forward or turn around, creating an internal struggle between ambition and safety that could lead to madness or strife—yet another horror movie cliché.

Can we really blame the writers or the Oscar winning Gary Oldman for what “Mary” is, though? For everything it does that has been done before, it at least makes an effort to be original in how it scares and intrigues its audience. However, the horror genre right now requires more than just scariness. Unless it is a Jordan Peele kind of social commentary or something deeply nostalgia like “It: Chapter Two,” it is very difficult for a horror film to stand out.

So if you want a fun-house horror movie to get you in the Halloween spirit with jump scares and general creepiness, “Mary” will probably do the trick. But, if you are looking for something that will garner critical acclaim or immense originality, you may want to take your money elsewhere, perhaps away from horror altogether and over to whatever movie follows through on that gripping family melodrama exposition.

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Entertainment, Movies

‘The Addams Family’: Back to the Future for the 60’s based Classic Caricatures

Video October 7, 2019 Madison Santel

https://movietrailers.apple.com/movies/mgm/the-addams-family/the-addams-family-trailer-1_h1080p.mov

official trailer for ‘the addams family’

‘The Addams Family’ tries to get 1960s Nostalgia Right, and still have a Contemporary Appeal

In a world of lack-luster “Smurf” and “Peanuts” reboots, we are really hoping that the new Addams Family movie finally gets the Baby-Boomer pop-culture icon recreation right. MGM and Cinesite Animation’s “The Addams Family” comes out October 11^th, aiming to capture some family-friendly spookiness just in time for Halloween.

Of course, “The Addams Family” is based off of Charles Addams’ famous 1960s live-action TV series of the same name. Just like the series, it focuses on the title family, which is made up of ghoulish versions of American nuclear family archetypes. As aforementioned, though, while Hollywood has been successful in cultivating 1980s nostalgia in recent years, its attempts to bring back icons from the early days of television has been less than fruitful.

The last time that the Addams family appeared in a movie was 1998’s “The Addams Family Reunion” and that same year they came back for “The New Adams Family” TV series. In the nineties, however, such black-and-white television era intellectual property may have been more marketable. After all, this was the decade that gave us cinematic remakes of “Leave It To Beaver,” “Dennis the Menace,” and “The Little Rascals.”

In 2019, even parents may not be familiar with the characters from “The Addams Family.” This is not to say that the movie will lack quality, but rather that the appeal may not be as strong as it was twenty years ago.

Family Friendly Halloween fare that Resurrects a Favorite from the Boomer’s Childhoods

Nevertheless, “The Addams Family” has been getting a lot of marketing, and its trailer looks very endearing. Even if we may not recognize the characters by name, they all seem like fun, quirky people worth spending time with. Likewise, there are only so many Halloween movies that the whole family can enjoy—unless you want to terrify your kids by taking them to “Joker” or a delayed screening of “It: Chapter Two.”

Similarly, the film does not seem stuck in the past. It has many modern twists as members of the family attend contemporary schools and interact with neighbors who are suspicious of the Addams family’s abnormalities. The movie’s villain will even be a proper, overly-conservative lady who riles up the community with fear of the Addams family’s nonconformity.

This gives way to the film’s touching and timely message. As it always has been with the Addams family, beneath all the jokes and slapstick grotesqueness, family perseveres as the core theme. The movie’s first trailer begins with illustrations of different kinds of American families, from nuclear families to biracial families to queer families and so on. All the while, a voice over narration explains, “every family is different, but some families are more different than others,” before revealing the monstrous Addams.

Thus, the movie’s ultimate moral will likely have to do with diversity and acceptance within both families and communities. With a dazzling cast of Oscar Issac, Charlize Theron, Chlöe Grace Moretz, Finn Wolfhard, Nick Kroll, and Snoop Dogg, though, and wacky team of writers and directors who have credits ranging from the classic “An American Tale” to the raunchy “Sausage Party,” the new movie is likely to show this message in a very unique way. One that does not lack in humor, daringness, quality, or emotionality.

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Entertainment, Movies

‘Lucy In The Sky’: Natalie Portman in Saga best remembered for a peculiar travel aid

Video October 3, 2019 Madison Santel

https://movietrailers.apple.com/movies/fox_searchlight/lucy-in-the-sky/lucy-in-the-sky-trailer-1_h1080p.mov

official trailer for “lucy in the sky”

Space-Race on Screen Continues with ‘Lucy’

Before Natalie Portman returns to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in “Thor: Love and Thunder” in 2021 she is taking a journey through a more familiar cosmos in “Lucy In The Sky,” the grounded Fox Searchlight Pictures sci-fi movie that is loosely based on a true story.

Natalie Portman plays Lucy Cola, an astronaut who visits space once and from there on becomes obsessed with returning to the infinite frontier. While the small slice of the film that actually takes place in space has a celestial feeling in the same vein as Alfonso Cuaròn’s “Gravity,” the bulk of the story happens back on Earth, as Cola feels increasingly detached from the planet and trains tenaciously for an opportunity to go back to the stars.

John Hamm plays Lucy’s ‘other’ Obsession

The movie is inspired by the true story of Lisa Norwok, an ambitious astronaut who had an affair with her colleague William Oefelein and was arrested for attempting to kidnap Oefelein’s other lover at the Orlando airport in 2007.

It is unclear how much “Lucy In The Sky” will actually take from Norwok’s life. It looks like the movie will focus more heavily on the fictional Lucy Cola’s ambition and her ceaseless drive to get back to space. However, the affair will surely play some role in the movie, as John Hamm plays the William Oefelein character named Mark Goodwin. If nothing else in the film, Goodwin’s relationship with Cola will spark scandal and put up roadblocks to her achieving her professional goals.

This quasi-fictional story was pieced together by director Noah Hawley and writers Brian C. Brown and Elliot G. DiGuiseppi. DiGuiseppi is actually best known as an editor for TV shows such as “Teen Wolf” and “Faking It.” Meanwhile, this is the first major feature film credit for both Hawley and Brown, both of whom have backgrounds predominantly in television.

Sometimes Bizarre Story not Strange Enough?

Naturally, with such an experimental creative team, we can expect a few narrative kinks in “Lucy In The Sky.” Ever since it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, the film has been meeting criticism. In terms of genre, many complain that the film is hard to place, toeing the line of tonal inconsistency. While there is nothing negative to say about Portman or Hamm’s performances in the movie, many claim that their talents are not enough to keep the project afloat.

At the same time, some have accused the film of being scientifically or historically inaccurate. According to real astronaut Marsha Ivins, the movie’s notion that astronauts lose their grip on reality once they’ve been in space, is simply non-existent on any recognizable scale. Likewise, some have pointed out inconsistencies in the way “Lucy In The Sky” tries to reconfigure the Lisa Norwok story in a way that is not entirely accurate.

At the end of the day, though, “Lucy In The Sky” remains a piece of fiction. It may not be the fantasy space epic of “Star Wars” or even the grounded hard science fiction of “Ad Astra,” but it is ultimately a made up story. Certain elements may come from the real world, but on the whole, we should not compare the story to reality, but rather appreciate it for the creative entity that it is.

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Amidst Family-Friendly ‘Billionaire’ Movies, ‘Joker’ is the Only R-Rated Feature to Break the Mold

Public Obsession with ‘Joker’ Brings Alarm as Many Fear it could Spawn Copy Cats

Despite Criticism, Filmmakers Defend Artistry as a Potential Oscar Buzz surrounds the ‘Clown Prince’

Is Rian Johnson only a Master of the Sci-Fi Action Genre or is he a Jack-of-All-Genres?

The Answer is Yes — He Masterfully Blends Comedy, Mystery, and All-Star Cast For this Fun-Filled Thrill-Ride

Although it Came after Great Success Elsewhere, ‘Knives Out’ is Certainly a Passion Project Worth the Wait

Black Panther Goes Blue—Chadwick Boseman Plays New York City Police Officer In “21 Bridges”

Anti-hero set-up suites, ultimately and makes for a strong performance

The Current Successes of Disney’s Imperially Strategic IP Expansion Overshadows its Origins as ‘Walt Disney Animation Studios’

After the Notorious Pixar Acquisition, Disney’s Original Animation Studio has Struggled to Compete with its Own Company

Second Installment will Strive to Match the much loved Original

Will ‘Frozen II’ Launch Another Disney Animation Renaissance?

Kasi Lemmons Aims High With Ambitious Historical Drama Based Off Harriet Tubman’s Extraordinary Life

Diverse, Seasoned Crew Behind the Camera Adds to the Film’s High Expectations

Controversy over Heritage and yet Critics point out lack of Innovation and Pace

The Film’s Release Date could allow for ‘Harriet’ to find a Niche

Money, Cars, Engineering, Sexy Racing scenes, what could go wrong?

With Two Top Tier Hollywood Veterans Co-Leading, Will this mean “Damon v Bale” at the Oscars?

June Release pushed back and now will fight Streaming Wars for Audience Attention

Nostalgia Gives Birth to a Biopic that Demands a Celestial Talent to Honor his Halo-like Memory

Icon portrays Icon—The Dilemma of Tom Hanks as Mr. Rogers

Alfonso Gomez-Rejon’s Reshoot Aims To Overcome The Weinstein Company’s Creative Stains

‘The Current War’ before the ‘Director’s Cut’ Messed Up by Harvey Weinstein

With #MeToo chucking Weinstein out, Gomez-Rejon’s Original Vision is In: A Compelling Story that Does Justice to its Historical Roots

‘The Director’s’ Allies helped make the ‘Cut’, especially Martin Scorsese who Saved the Day

Just in case you missed our recent coverage on the intersections of the Climate Crisis, Tech and Entertainment, we’ve compiled a list of articles for you to check out:

Greta Thunberg: Climate Activist focused on Change now, not hopes for an Uncertain Future

The Potential of Self-Driving Cars in Entertainment Media: First Foray

iOS 13 Tips: How to Use and Manage the new Share Menu for iPhone and iPadOS

Leonardo DiCaprio headlines Global Citizens Festival, continues fight to raise awareness of Climate Crisis

Tesla and Elon Musk are Smiling: Gas Pumps Out, Charging Stations In

‘Scandalous’: National Inquirer sets the Standard for Questionable News Coverage

5 New Trailers just Released: Check out the future fare from Sony, Disney and more

Eight Movies Out Now you might have missed

Edward Norton Returns to Director’s Chair for 1950s Detective Drama

Starring a Detective with a Disability, Never-Before-Seen on the Silver Screen

Classic Oscar Bait Elements, perhaps, but Will it Play in 2020?

Springsteen’s Introspective Brilliance Rocks onto the Big Screen in Lieu of a Concert Tour

A Documentary-Music Video that Expands Upon Bruce Springsteen’s Latest Album

A Nostalgic Directorial Collaboration Rooted in Springsteen’s Earliest Years

A Decade in the Making, showing how Predecessor was a Premonition Foretold

Stellar Cast and Creative Team should produce Entertaining Bulls-eye

More Apropos in 2019 than 2009?

“Scandalous” Documentary Film Reveals the Corrupt History Behind the National Enquirer, Entertains with a point about Fake News

Living Squarely in a Gray Area and Embracing Ambiguity

Will Sleeping Beauty Spin-off Franchise continue Disney Magic?

Evil Rendition is Part of the Appeal

Although not Prime Marketing Focus, Maleficent will be in great company

Norman Rockwell Harmony Voyage leads to Dangers from Within

‘The Addams Family’ tries to get 1960s Nostalgia Right, and still have a Contemporary Appeal

Family Friendly Halloween fare that Resurrects a Favorite from the Boomer’s Childhoods

Space-Race on Screen Continues with ‘Lucy’

John Hamm plays Lucy’s ‘other’ Obsession

Sometimes Bizarre Story not Strange Enough?

News: Climate Solutions, AI, Books, Entertainment and more