Scorsese's 'The Irishman' starring De Niro, Pacino, Pesci and Keitel might start shooting in February

Want to know what Scorsese will follow-up 'Silence' with? A jog down memory lane, with some of the greatest actors from some of his greatest movies, oh, and Al Pacino as well. 

Long-time Scorsese Production-Designer Dante Ferretti has told Variety that 'The Irishman,' which has been in the works since 2010, could roll out as early as February:

“We’ve talked about it;  but we still have to see when and how it will be shot. I never say ‘I’m doing to do this or that’ until it’s signed. Theoretically we’ve talked about shooting this film next year in February or March,” he said.

Steve Zaillian (“Gangs Of New York,” “Schindler’s List,” “Moneyball,“ “The Night Of“), is helming the screenplay for this one, which is based on the book “I Heard You Paint Houses” by Charles Brandt. Zaillian is a hot commodity these days after writing and directing the best TV series of 2016, HBO's brilliant dissection of the justice system "The Night Of."

"The Irishman"  tells the story of Frank “The Irishman” Sheeran — a hitman tied to the Bufalino crime family that was a high ranking officer in the international brotherhood of teamsters, was tied to a possible plot in the JFK assassination and who claimed, on his deathbed, to have murdered Teamster leader and iconic cold case Jimmy Hoffa.

'Assassin's Creed' will be heavy on subtitles

I'm still on the fence with "Assassin's Creed." It is based on a video game after all, however the trailer does reveal some very cinematic elements at play. Also director Justin Kurzel is no slouch, he doesn't come from any fanboy background, hell, he directed 2015's adaptation of "Macbeth" starring Michael Fassbender and Marillon Cotillard. They both are back and ready to boogie woogie down the Assassin's Creed. One look at the just released trailer and you see some hallmarks of potential. Also, Kurzel revealed recently to Total Film magazine that the film is heavy on subtitles:

“I just love the fact [production company] New Regency embraced it,” the director told Total Film. “We did play around with English as well, but it was really obvious what you wanted as soon as you went back and started speaking beautiful Spanish. It really adds an exoticness and richness to the film.”

Groovy, the trailer starts off very well, but then delves into CGI mayhem because, well, Fassbender's Callum Lynch has to deal with the Spanish inquisition. This could be a blockbuster with a real brain or might give in and falter by adhering to the mainstream's demand for bang-bang action.

The film opens on December 21st.

Steven Shainberg's 'Rupture' [TRAILER]

Back in the summer I wrote for The Playlist a REVIEW oft Steven Shainberg's "Rupture" which had its premiere at the Fantasia Film Festival, which just had its trailer released today. The following are a few excerpts from my review:

"Sacrificing character for action, Shainberg’s film does hold onto to its luridly devilish pace until its final third when the director decides to add the supernatural into the mix. The conflicting mixture of the real and the surreal ends up being a decidedly failed opportunity to accentuate Renee’s horrific psyche. All this time we were in her head and ready to go anywhere to taste that final bit of freedom with her. What Shainberg does is add an unnecessary and uninvolving twist to the story that, instead of feeling fresh and original, becomes frustratingly distant and cold."

"The Swedish-born Rapace, has been slowly but surely building up a career in American movies and making a real mark. The 36-year-old actress has also done sci-fi/horror before, starring as Dr. Elizabeth Shaw in Ridley Scott’s “Alien” prequel “Prometheus” and in the currently filming sequel, “Alien: Covenant.” Her facial gestures and looks can sometimes be filled up with an innumerable amount of emotions, and her physical prowess — she’s no slouch in the muscle department — builds considerable heroism to a story that needs it."

"Premiering at Montreal’s Fantasia Film Festival, “Rupture” places a gripping hold on its audience for nearly two-thirds of its 102-minute running time before stumbling slight in the final act. It might not be as risk-taking as previous Shainberg gems, but his knack for expertly crafted drama remains."

What really happened on-set of 'Rogue One'?

To say that "Rogue One" has been plagued by less-than stellar buzz the last 5 months would be an understatement. Last week its star Felicity Jones came out to try and defend the re-shoots by saying "Obviously when you come to the edit, you see the film come together and you think, 'Actually, we could do this better, and this would make more sense if we did this,' " she says. "I've done it so many times. I mean, you wouldn't just give your first draft on this story, would you?"

I was contacted earlier last week by a person that claimed he or she was on-set during the shoot of 'Rogue One'. They did not want to give me all the details about their connection to the film, but the on-set details they described to me were enough to give us a fuller picture of what actually happened. Take this with a grain of salt, but it's worth pondering over until we see the actual finished product.


Here are the most telling excerpts:

"The film has been in trouble since production. They had a lackluster script to work with and during filming they decided that the film was in trouble so they decided to get Christopher McQuarrie come in and help with the script. He's known to be one of the best script-doctors in Hollywood. Around the time the first trailer came out in April the Disney suits did see the film and were mostly pleased with it. They were going to fix some things later on but nothing they were too concerned with. They were going to wait until the release date to hype the film. Everything was fine until sometime in June they got nervous or worried about the film."

"So they arranged to have a non industry test audience to help screen the film to help Disney gauge what the general public's reaction would be. They hated it! This sent Disney into a major panic. The bad news leaked and Disney went into damage control mode. They denied they had a test audience. They said only the Disney execs saw it. That's a lie. They can dismiss they had a test audience because they had the audience members sign NDAs to help them keep quiet. It gave Disney wiggle room to deny. After the disastrous test screening of the "rough draft" of the film as Felicity yaks about. That was the finished film. That was supposed to be the one the Disney execs were happy about and wanted to release originally."

"Things went into a tizzy soon after, Disney ordered immediate re-shoots and urgently recalled everyone involved on the film back to immediately begin re-shooting the film. They had to pull actors off of other projects and Gareth Edwards was dropped from the Godzilla 2 project. Disney has been in damage control spin since the re-shoots and has been spewing out PR BS since."

"That Hollywood Reporter fluff piece was just ego boosting for Felicity and damage control PR for Disney. From what else I've learned Disney ordered 40% of the film to be re-shot. They had to rebuild entire sets and they didn't know who would come on the film to help save it. So they asked Christopher McQuarrie to come back to help save the film. For whatever reasons he walked off the production. I think they couldn't see eye to eye on things and too much was going to leveled onto his feet. Anyway he balked. They were considering getting JJ Abrams to come by and helm/direct the film but he seemed not to want to get involved. That's when Tony Gilroy was brought in to save the film. According to sources he took over from Gareth Edwards in the director's chair. He also took responsibility for the writing as well. It seems that Edwards was kicked off his own film."

"I don't know how they are going to gloss this fact over for credits or how they are going to cover it up, but that's what happened. They'll probably just say he "helped", but that's as close to the truth they'll admit to. They also replaced the main composer of the film from Alexandre Desplat to Michael Giacchino. They seemed to play re-arrange the deck chairs on the Rogue One ship to keep it from sinking. "

Final poster for 'Nocturnal Animals' gets all the details right about Tom Ford's original, exciting new film

Taken from my 9.19.16 Review:

"Tom Ford’s follow-up to 2009’s “A Single Man” turned out to be the love it or hate it movie of the fest. Heated debate raged post-screening, with the film’s champions touting it as a provocative depiction of 21stcentury masculinity, whereas the haters couldn’t look past what they saw as its lurid fiction-within-fiction B-movie plot device. Amy Adams, on fire this fest, plays art gallery owner Susan Morrow, a woman haunted by an old flame (Jake Gyllenhaal) who sends her his latest violent novel “Nocturnal Animals.” Something in the book touches a nerve in Susan and, through flashbacks recounting their failed relationship, we get to see why. To mention any plot points in Ford’s film would be to ruin a nastily satisfying thriller that refuses to balk away from conventions. This wasn’t an easy film to swallow for many, and some of the people I spoke to did in fact have real distaste for it. But it has just enough intrigue and artfulness to prove to the world that, yes, Tom Ford is an extraordinary filmmaker."

Box-Office: 'The Accountant' debut at #1 with $25 Million, 'The Birth of a Nation' continues to plunge.

I liked "The Accountant" when I saw it 3 weeks ago. It's thrilling, mindless fun. I felt the same way watching it as I did watching Keanu Reeves kick ass in "John Wick" or Liam Neeson take names in "Taken." Mind you, "The Accountant" is not a stone-cold classic like the aforementioned Neeson film, but it gets the job done. You can read what I had to say about it HERE.

Meanwhile, Nate Parker's "The Birth of a Nation" is dying a slow death. After its below-expectations $7M debut last week, it has plunged even further down with just a $2.6M weekend intake. You don't hear me complaining, I thought the film was average at best when I first saw it at Sundance.

Source: Deadline

1-The Accountant $25.04M
2- The Girl On The Train $12.7M
3- Kevin Hart: What Now? $12.3M
4- Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children $8.6M
5- Deepwater Horizon $6.3M
6- Storks $5.7M
7- Magnificent Seven $5.1M
8- Middle School $4.2M
9- Sully $3M
10- Birth of a Nation $2.6M

Scorsese cuts 36 minutes from 'Silence, which is now 2 hours and 39 minutes

In an interview with The Playlist producer Irwin Winkler has stated that the Scorsese epic will NOT be the longest movie of the director's career. In fact, it won't even come close to it. According to Winkler, the original 3 hour 15 minute cut of "Silence" has been reduced by 34 minutes. Winkler also calls "Silence" "Marty's best movie." Can we get a trailer already?  "Billy Lynn" failing last night with the critics has us in need of this movie now more than ever. I spoke to a producer last night, close to the project, who was hinting that a trailer would get released by next week.

We exclusively reported  on Wednesday that Scorsese was "deep at work" in the editing room, working on the sound mix and will not be done until the "11th hour." That full article can be found HERE.

It was announced just last month that "Silence" would roll into theaters on December 21st and would expand wide in January.

'Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk' disappoints at New York Film Festival

Based on first reactions from critics at the NYFF it looks like Ang Lee's latest has floundered and underwhelmed at its own World Premiere. We might have to scratch this one off the Oscar and awards radar. What a shocker!

Ang Lee is usually always on the ball, but with "Taking Woodstock" he showed that he wasn't perfect. Billy Lynn is, by all accounts, a technical accomplishment, but the story just doesn't seem to be gelling with critics.

UPDATED: 12:18 A.M.

'His Girl Friday' gets Criterion treatment + 10 titles that deserve to be released

Courtesy of this late afternoon's Criterion press release:

"In January, we’re releasing the groundbreaking ["Black Girl"] debut feature of African cinema master Ousmane Sembène, ["Fox and His Friends"] a controversial portrait of 1970s gay life from Rainer Werner Fassbinder, ["Something Wild"] a harrowing work of psychological realism by Actors Studio pioneer Jack Garfein, and ["His Girl Friday"] an endlessly quotable Howard Hawks classic.

This got me to go back to a very popular article I wrote for IndieWire back in the summer of 2015. Notice how one of the entries is David Lynch, who's "Eraserhead" and "Mulholland Drive" just got Criterion treatment recently. The whole article can be read HERE. Or scroll down to find an abbreviated version:

There are currently over 800+ films in The Criterion Collection, but not every movie on cinephiles' wish lists will get the much prized Criterion treatment. For the time being, however, the following movies seem to be tailor-made for an eventual restoration and release, many of which have been long rumored to be next for the Collection but to no avail.

"Beau Travail" (1999)

How can it be that Clair Denis' "Beau Travail" is only sporadically in print and that you can't find it on any streaming service? It's no coincidence that this war movie bears many similarities to another female-directed dissection of male ego and testosterone: Kathryn Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker." This is an artsier film through and through, but no less remarkable; just the thought of its lingering final shot, which poses a turbulent, uncomfortable question, will give anybody – especially men – nightmares. Criterion has already released Denis' "White Material," an arguably lesser film compared to "Beau Travail," which has stood the test of time and now needs to be immortalized in proper fashion.

"Enter the Void" (2010)

Gaspar Noe's surreal nightmare was, once upon a time, rumored to get the full Criterion treatment; however, the story goes that "Enter the Void" was rejected by them and audiences ultimately ended up with a normal, token Blu-Ray/DVD release that could have been so much more. Noe's film is divisive, but it's garnered an immense cult following over the years, with many proclaiming it is ahead of its time. You can fault or insult the 51-year-old French filmmaker all you want, but he had the chutzpah to make a modern day "2001," full of intense visual treats and thought-provoking questions about life, death and the afterlife. 

"Bamboozled" (2000)

Most people have forgotten how groundbreaking, political and philosophical Spike Lee's work in the late 80's and early 90's really was. "Bamboozled" came out in 2000, when the director was about to enter a new, albeit confusing, phase of his filmmaking career. It would be the last explicitly political movie Lee would make about race in America. Starring Damon Wayans and Savion Glover, the film was pure Lee: Over the top, angry and ready to throw darts at its audience. Lee's film is as relevant as ever, dealing with an African American's frustration with a blindly racist country. All hell breaks loose when a black minstrel show becomes a primetime television hit. The film wasn't an easy watch, but it’s become a summary of Lee's strengths as a filmmaker, encapsulating a time when his anger translated into celluloid. A few years later he'd follow it up with the masterful "The 25th Hour," which couldn't have been more tonally or texturally different.

 "Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans" (1927)

It is criminally unfair that one of the greatest movies of all-time did not get the proper DVD treatment. The images in "Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans" simmer into your head and stay there for years on end. F. W. Murnau's visual poetry was second to none, and "Sunrise" has always been the runaway winner for greatest silent movie ever made. Its DVD and Blu-ray releases until now have been mostly pitiful, bland and uncared for. What gives? It's mind-boggling that there are self-proclaimed "cinephiles" out there who have never seen this movie, and its DVD treatment is to blame.

"Freaks" (1932)

Tod Browning's visceral, pre-code horror film still shocks audiences today, so imagine what it must have been like to watch his masterful freak show 83 years ago, when audiences were much more sensitive to grotesque imagery. Then again, the original version was considered too shocking to even be released and basically ruined Browning's career. Based upon his own experiences as a runaway teenager with a travelling circus, Browning was one of the first mavericks to push the envelope to the very extreme. "One of us, one of us" is a chant that evokes the spirit the filmmaker was going for; he was trying to get the audience to understand his circus performers, when in fact the despicable people in the movie were the "normal" circus performers. The DVD release has a decent amount of extra footage, but this movie is the stuff that Criterion dreams are made of.

"Blow-Up" (1966)

Will Michelangelo Antonioni's "Blow-Up" ever get properly released? Has Warner Bros. forgotten that they own the rights to this incredible film? There are some used copies of the film on Amazon for $50, but the film transfer is terribly primitive and the extras are nowhere to be found. A re-release is rumored to be in the works, but isn't a film like this one meant for a more in-depth treatment? Just recently, Criterion released Brian De Palma's homage to Antonioni's film, "Blow Out," a great movie that stands along the best 1980's cinema had to offer. You'd think it would only be a matter of time before we finally got what we wanted, but not so much. There is absolutely no indication this will be coming out in the near future via Criterion.

"Atlantic City" (1981)

In an American Film magazine critics poll of the best movies of the 1980's, Louis Malle's "Atlantic City" was named the fifth best movie of the decade. The film is criminally underrated and one of the great achievements of American cinema, and yet time has not been kind to Malle's film, but for all the wrong reasons. It is not a showy, bombastic picture, but instead quiet and cerebral in its approach to organized crime on the boardwalks of Jersey. The way this movie has been released is a crime, whether it'd be on VHS, DVD or Blu-Ray – the film is almost ghostly in its absence and availability. The film transfer is underwhelming and the extras are pitiful, that is, if you can find a copy. What exactly happened to Malle's landmark movie? Criterion has released 17 of his movies, and it's time for his best movie to be the 18th. 

"All About My Mother" (1999)  & "Talk To Her" (2001)

It has always been a toss-up as to what is the best Pedro Almodóvar movie: "Talk to Her" or "All About My Mother." Why can't Criterion just release them all? We'll be first in line to buy the 30-disc package of every Almodóvar movie out there, and even if we can probably pass on "I'm So Excited," we'll still take that one as well. The man is a genius, and his movies haven't had much luck when it comes to DVD/Blu-ray releases stateside. A proper release is almost inevitable, but we just hope we won't be waiting another decade for it.

"The Comedian" getting Oscar-buzz for De Niro and a World Premiere at AFI Film Festival

Deniro on the set of the recently wrapped "The Comedian"

AFI has just announced that Taylor Hackford's "The Comedian" will premiere on Thursday November 10th at AFI Film Festival. I have been tracking the film relentlessly the last few months, here are a few things I have had to say about this very promising performance from De Niro.

Here is what I had to say on 10.5.16

"Given that I'm a diehard Robert De Niro fan and I have been disheartened the last couple of decades by his lack of quality roles, that hasn't stopped me from following whatever projects he signs on to because, well, I'm a hopeful person and I know the man still has it in him to deliver something special. Look what he did in "Silver Linings Playbook," such a comic, resonant and touching performance which earned him a well-deserved Oscar nomination."

"With all that in mind I have been following "The Comedian" with a close eye for a couple of years now. At some point Mike Newell was supposed to direct the film, with a script by Comedian Jeff Ross no less, finally Taylor Hackford ("Ray") took over. The film began production this past February. I did not expect it to get released this year, but, lo and behold, it was just announced that Sony Pictures Classics has so much confidence in the film that it will have an Oscar qualifying run this coming December! They test screened it a week ago and word on Twitter was that it was "very funny" and De Niro "killed it." Word of mouth was so encouraging it seems that Sony believes it should qualify for awards season.

"The film tracks the highs and lows, the life and times if you will, of an aging insult comic. If that isn't enough, Harvey Keitel co-stars and we all know the legendary cinematic relationship both actors had with Scorsese back in the 70s with "Taxi Driver" and "Mean Streets." Hackford whose credits as a director include "An Officer and a Gentleman," successfully directed Jamie Foxx to Oscar glory in 2004 with "Ray." Here's hoping he does the same for De Niro this year. Wouldn't that be something?"

Writer-Director Kelly Reichardt talks about 'Certain Women' [Interview]

Full interview for The Playlist can be found HERE

Here are review excerpts from the archives about her last four films:


Certain Women

"Reichardt's latest film has three short stories adapted from Maile Meloy’s writings about lonely, isolated women in the 21st century. Starring Laura Dern, Michelle Williams, Kristen Stewart and Lily Gladstone in a career making performance, this might be Reichardt’s best movie yet. Not only profound statement on female yearning in the 21st century, but delicately nuanced portrayal of an American society rotting at its core. Based on Montana writer Maile Meloy's short stories, Reichardt weaves together four stories about four different women: Laura Dern as a down on her luck lawyer, Michelle Williams as an aggressive opportunist, Kristen Stewart as a motivated, but confused night school teacher and newcomer Lily Gladstone, the film's best performance, as a hard-working rancher. It's a romantic, but pessimistic vision of western Americana" [B+]

Night Moves

"Bearing to connection to the Gene Hackman noir from the 70s, Reichardt tackles eco-terrorism as three radical environmentalists, expertly played by Jesse Eisenberg, Dakota Fanning and Peter Sarsgaard, concoct a plan to make a hydroelectric dam explode. Of course there are repercussions  “Night Moves” moves at the same slow, burning pace we’ve come to expect from her film’s especially in the film’s first half which is by far the strongest part of the film. The wait and execution of the bombing is tightly edited and constructed that you will likely be biting every single one of your fingernails in anguish. It is one of the most excitingly constructed sequences I have seen. The film is minor Reichardt but well worth a look." [B]

Meek's Cutoof
"How can a film about getting lost be so frighteningly gripping? With "Meek's Cutoff" Reichardt crafted her most surreal cinematic experience. A film about confused people that are led to a road to nowhere by an even more clueless leaders. It's 1845 and settlers are travelling through the Oregon dessert, lost, bewildered, dying of thirst. Because this is a film by the vulnerable female director, a woman (Michelle Williams) decides to take charge and lead the troupe from nowhere to somewhere. 
She seeks the help of an Indian held captive by the troupe. The western genre gets deconstructed, its cliches turned inside out, by Reichardt as she tries to find Western solitude from the most unexpected of places" [B+]

Wendy and Lucy

"There is no movie quite like "Wendy and Lucy." The plot is simple. Girl loses dog. Girl looks for dog. That's it, that's all. It's not just a simple premise, but it's minimalist stuff reminiscent of the French new wave of the 60's. In fact shoot it in Black and White and you might get duped in thining this was the best film of 1960. TWendy is played beautifully by Michelle Williams & what a simple and touching performance it is. She barely has any dialogue and, instead, renders her heartbreaking performance as if she were the greatest silent movie star on earth. Nothing happens but everything happens because in Reichardt's carefully chosen frames there looms a lost America that the news wouldn't dare cover. There are scenes of startling beauty in this 80 minute film." [A-]

Scorsese still 'deep at work' on 'Silence'

It's rare that a film with so much Oscar buzz and a masterful director at the helm doesn't have a trailer to its name. That is what's happening with Martin Scorsese's "Silence" at the moment.  The December 21st release date, which was announced recently, was a positive step forward. The film started shooting around the time I was at Sundance 2015, mid-January, but ever since principal photography wrapped in June of 2015, things have been very hush hush. In August Scorsese said the film would be completed in October. Well, it seems like he's still in the finishing stages of editing as we speak. 

I've been asking around the last few weeks, trying to find people in the know, and it seems like Scorsese is still hard at work with this one. One anonymous source tells me, "Marty is deep at work on it so no show to anyone. Would be surprised if Brad Grey (Paramount Chairman and CEO) had seen any part of it. From what I've been hearing he has been tolling laboriously over the sound mix at the moment and it won't be done til the 11th hour." That can't be, can it? Grey hasn't seen it? What is the delay? Someone has told me that we can expect a trailer in October, but that the December release date, although official, might still be up in the air. 

This is nothing new on Scorsese's part. He has been known to finish his movies, with longtime editor Thelma Schoonmaker, in the 11th hour. I, for one, don't mind the obsessive editing because it means Scorsese has something most filmmakers seem to be lacking in this day and age of studio movies: creative freedom. Will the reported 195 minute running time stand?

Despite all the delays, December release "The Wolf of Wall Street" had its trailer land on June 13, 2013. So, no, you can't really compare what is happening to "Silence" with that film, which had its own set of delays and setbacks because a) Paramount wanted the original cut trimmed down and b) Scorsese had jury duty at the Marrakech Film Festival.

EDIT: 8.22.16 I had this to say about the film:

"Principal photography was completed in May of 2015. So you are telling me that its been more than 16 months since the damn thing concluded shooting? If released in December, it would be more than 20 months. You cannot wait until 2017 to release this thing. You cant release it 2 years after shooting. I am not blaming Paramount for this. Scorsese is supposedly still in the editing room with Thelma until October then, he was quoted as saying, it all depends on what Paramount wants to do with the film afterwards in terms of release date."

Can be read fully HERE

'I, Daniel Blake' is the worst Palme D'or winner since the 80s [Trailer]

I really did like Ken Loach's "I, Daniel Blake this past May at Cannes, but "like" is not enough for a film that won the Palme D'or. It's not like there weren't great films for the choosing at this year's festival: Paul Verhoeven's "Elle," Jim Jarmusch's "Paterson, Maren Ade's "Toni Erdmann," Andrea Arnold's "American Honey" and Kleber Mendonca Filho's "Aquarius" were all indisputably brilliant movies that deserved the honor.  The four of them won zero prizes during the awards ceremony. The jury instead opted to give Xavier Dolan's terrible new film a Grand Jury Prize as well. The Cannes jury, which included George Miller, Kiefer Sutherland, Mads Mikkelson and Kate Hudson, might go down in infamy as the worst one since, quite possibly, 1987 when "Under the Sun of Satan" won the Palme D'or.


An Excerpt from my 5.12.16 Review of "I, Daniel Blake"

"The story is a little too familiar to be saved by its impeccable direction and harrowingly effective acting. What we get instead is a competent, watchable, but nevertheless problematic Ken Loach film which only reaffirms the fact that this kind of palpably, sentimental film would have not been chosen for the festival if it weren’t for the director’s name."

President Obama's favorite Sci-Fi movies As Per WIRED Interview

In the latest issue of WIRED magazine, President Obama lists his favorite sci-fi movies of all-time. Can't really disagree with many of these, but I still haven't really warmed up to "The Martian." Maybe over time, but doubt it. Click HERE for full article. Below are his choices with his comments.

2001: A Space Odyssey(1968)

“captures the grandeur and scale of the unknown.”

Blade Runner (1982)

“It asks what it means to be human,”

Close Encounters of the Third Kind(1977)

“because it is fundamentally optimistic.”

Star Wars: Episode IV—A New Hope(1977)

“because it was fun and revolutionized special effects,”

Star Trek (1966-69)

“wasn’t actually about technology. It was about values and relationships.” 

The Martian (2015)

“shows humans as problem solvers,”

The Matrix (1999)

“because it asks basic questions about our reality—and looks very cool.”

Cosmos: A Personal Voyage(1980)

“because it fed my lifelong fascination with space.”

Darth Vader shows up in new 'Rogue One' trailer

This is more like it. One thing I like abut this new trailer is the multicultural cast. Feels fresh and distant enough from the other Star War movies. Also check out Darth Vader showing up for a brief second at 2:04. That was, supposedly, part of the re-shoots they did after Garth Edwards submitted his original "grittier" version. The film has been dampened with rumors that 40% of it had to be re-shot as per Disney's instructions. Do I believe those rumors? Yeah, you bet. This is business, not art-making. Nevertheless, this is a visually stunning new trailer with lots of intriguing prospects for the film itself. I do hope we get a "good" Star Wars movie.

Of note: Did you ever think we'd have to blame Mads Mikkelson for the "Death Star"?

I have been posting quite a bit about this movie the last 24 hours, here are the other posts:

New 'Rogue One' poster has Felicity Jones' Jyn Erso front and center
Felicity Jones "tries" to defend 'Rogue One' reshoots

New 'Rogue One' Poster Has Felicity Jones' Jyn Erso Front and Center

The rest of the supporting cast for "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," opening on December 16th, includes Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen, Alan Tudyk, Riz Ahmed, Jiang Wen and Forest Whitaker. 


I wrote about the difficultes director Gareth Edwards had with his cut of the picture, and Jones spoke about the reshoot rumors earlier today . The latter can be found by clicking HERE

IMDB has the synopsis for "Rogue One" as follows:

"The Rebellion makes a risky move to steal the plans to the Death Star, setting up the epic saga to follow."

Tommy Wiseau, of 'The Room' infamy, is back with a new movie: 'Best F(r)iends'

Tommy Wiseau wrote, directed and financed "The Room" back in 2003, a film so bad that it has transcended genres and is now known as a "cult comedy." The film was so fascinatingly inept that it seemed too good to be true. Were Wiseau's intentions genuine? Did he really set out to make a good movie? The answer is, quite seriously, yes.


The dialogue was the stuff a third grader would write, the performances wooden and the sex scenes some of the most howlingly funny in cinematic history. Little did we think that Wiseau would ever want to make another film after his first catastrophic effort, but if there is anything that sets Wiseau apart from the rest it's his undying and overtly relentless passion for moviemaking.

Directed by, that's right, former wedding photographer Gary Wong, "F(r)iends is inspired by a road trip Wiseau and his "The Room" collaborator/actor Greg Sestero took back in 2003.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film, which was filmed over the last two months in L.A. and Canada, has Sestero playing a man that loses his entire family in a devastating car crash and, judging by the trailer, that very same day gets picked up on the highway by Wiseau “Are you in show business?,” Sestero asks, to which Wiseau sublimely replies" sort of.”

Wiseau is just waiting for someone in Hollywood to ask him if he wants to play the joker. Full Hollywood Reporter article can be found if you click HERE

5 Facts About Darren Aronofsky's Secretive, Untitled New Movie

Darren Aronofsky is a filmmaker who's always on the radar for cinephiles as to what he's going to do next. This is after all the director that brought us "Requiem For A Dream," "The Wrestler" and "Black Swan." Most directors would kill to have just one of these films in the span of an entire career.

We don't have an actual title for his latest secret project, but, through actual on-set accounts, the film seems have the working title of "Day 6," although there have also been rumors that it is called "Mother." The film has wrapped up shooting and has been in post-production since August. 

By all accounts it also looks like the film will be a thriller and there was an intriguing tweet earlier last month that stated the cast and crew were shooting in an "apocalyptic house that was upside down" and that the "set was real dirty and needed standby nurses." There were also "150 extras and some were instructed to say "help me." Whatever that means.

Intriguing. Maybe this is, in fact, a horror movie. Who knows. But what we do know are these 5 facts about the untitled project.

1) It stars Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris, Domhnall Gleeson and Michelle Pfeiffer. 


2) IMDB says the plot revolves around “a couple whose relationship is tested when uninvited guests arrive at their home, disrupting their tranquil existence.”


3) The film was shot on 16mm, but only on the last day of shooting did digital cameras get used for effects purposes

4) The film will supposedly continue Aronofsky's dive into "political" themes after his last film "Noah" As the director mentioned at the Reykjavik Film Festival this past week: "My latest project probably has similar political intentions behind it, but first and foremost responsibility as a narrative filmmaker is making something that is emotional and can connect with an audience."

5) Long-time Aronofsky composer Clint Mansell, having scored all of his movies, will step down for Jóhann Jóhannsson a composer I greatly admire whose pulse pounding score in "Sicario" was a real highlight.

For more on Aronofsky's appearance at The Reykjavik Film Festival click HERE for IndieWire's coverage of the event

THR: 'Mel Gibson Is No Longer Persona Non Grata in Hollywood'

I'll leave you with a few interesting quotes from this fascinating Hollywood Reporter article just published today (Full article can be found HERE). Suffice to say I have been defending Gibson's talents as not just an actor, but as a formidable director for years now. I look forward to catching "Hacksaw Ridge" next week at a press screening. 

I wrote something about his talents as a director just last week, that can be found HERE. Also he starred in "Blood Father" this summer: A visceral and pulse-pounding revenge thriller.

Things are indeed looking up for "Bloody Mel."

"After 10 years in director's jail, Gibson is back with 'Hacksaw Ridge' and lining up acting projects said to have CAA and UTA in a race to rep the star, who was once fired by WME's Ari Emanuel."

"I think Mel has been misunderstood by people who may not know him, but nobody can take his talent away," adds Permut. "Ultimately, I think time heals." 

"I've known Mel for many years, and his talents as a filmmaker are undeniable," says Sue Kroll, president of worldwide marketing and distribution at Warner Bros. "He is a gifted storyteller and has created some really exceptional films."

Producer David Permut, who is gay and Jewish, had some reservations before teaming with Gibson on the film, but he decided to get to know Gibson personally before drawing conclusions. What he found was a man well at odds with the headlines.

"Believe me, there were conversations I had with people who were questioning me about going down the path with Mel," says Permut. "But he's not the person some people interpret him to be on the surface. Ask anyone involved with this film — above the line, below the line — they all revered him. The crew would lay in front of the tracks for Mel. It was an amazing experience and a learning experience for me because I got to know the man whom I never really knew."

Felicity Jones "tries" to defend "Rogue One" reshoots

I won't deny that all the rumors of "Star Wars: Rogue One" reshoots over the past year have definitely dampened my enthusiasm for the film. We here at "World of Reel" would like to get some kind of concrete answer as to why these reshoots happened. I have been trying to be as low-key as possible about the possible "mess" the film might be under. Rumor has it that Disney was not happy with the "darker" and "grittier" cut of the film director Gareth Edwards gave them. Disney have defended the reshoots by saying it's just something that most blockbuster films go through. 

A few more intrIguing details have emerged today, albeit looking like more "damage control."

Disney CEO has said the film and its reshoots have been because the film is "an experiment of sorts," which just doesn't gel. LucasFilm president Kathleen Kenndy tried to use a "Jedi mind trick" by saying "I'm sure if you picked up the phone and called every single large, technical movie and said, 'You ever gone in and done reshoots?' they'd all say, 'Oh God, yes,'"So why has it turned into a big story? Because it's "Star Wars," and they put a spotlight and scrutinize every single thing that gets done. But it was always planned and nothing unusual."

Even more intriguing, its star Felicity Jones addressing the reshoots "Obviously when you come to the edit, you see the film come together and you think, 'Actually, we could do this better, and this would make more sense if we did this,' " she says. "I've done it so many times. I mean, you wouldn't just give your first draft on this story, would you?"

Is anyone actually saying anything positive about this film? I have yet to hear anyone involved saying that it's a good movie or that they are confident about the product. 

The whole Felicity Jones interview can be found HERE via The Hollywood Reporter