Movies

This is an academic essay on contemporary spectatorship which I quite enjoyed. Excerpt:

Not everyone uses Letterboxd to record their immediate reactions, but I’d argue that this is the best way to participate. Keeping a log of every movie you watch, along with as many gut-reaction writeups as possible, provides an exciting, humorous, and sobering record of the spectator’s experience. The philosopher Sianne Ngai might classify this brand of marginal criticism by the various “aesthetic categories” it derives opinions from.8 “Zany,” “cute,” and “interesting” are her main focal points, each bearing sociopolitical weight despite how trivial they might sound. But we could easily expand that to include “dollar-store Scooby Doo” – my Letterboxd review of From Justin to Kelly (Robert Iscove, 2003) – or “manufactured by a secret NFL supercomputer” – 80 for Brady (Kyle Marvin, 2023) – or “literally just a porno, but with worse acting” – Gingerdead Man vs. Evil Bong (Charles Band, 2013). The point is that “aesthetic experience is attached, in some way, to our nonaesthetic encounters with the world… To judge something ‘good’ or ‘bad’ is to participate in a bigger conversation about what kinds of aesthetic choices are culturally valid.”

'The Legend of Zelda' director Wes Ball says he wants adaptation to look like a 'live-action Miyazaki' movie.

I watched this last night and thought I'd share my thoughts. Renfield, 2023 dir Chris McKay. Comedic action/horror based on a Robert Kirkman property and also an example of Universal trying to leverage its movie monster heritage. Premise: Renfield attends a support group to deal with his feelings about his boss, Dracula.

Although the script is cartoonishly oversimplistic (and the B plot is terrible), I found this film a lot of fun! A competent, stylised production with strong "splatstick" elements reminiscent of early Peter Jackson.

Nicholas Hoult makes a charming, understated Renfield, though I do I think his early work with Hugh Grant in About A Boy seems to have rubbed off on him. Nicholas Cage's performance references the cinematic history of Dracula, with overtones of Christopher Lee (who he kind of looks like) and Bella Lugosi, but also mob movies and of course it's rife with Cage-isms. Awkwafina is in this film as well, but her character does not have much scope. It's a pleasant surprise to see Shohreh Aghdashloo doing a brief turn as a villain.

Tl;dr: Watch this if: you like camp horror comedies and homages, and enjoy Nic Cage. Do not watch this if: you need plots to be believable or well constructed. - @livus

“The idea of a superhero team, which it so brilliantly subverts, wasn’t yet a thing in movies,” Nolan said about Snyder’s 2009 Alan Moore graphic novel adaptation.

Via @ZeroCool

As a new film spotlights her 60-year career, record-breaking film extra Jill Goldston discusses turning down Warren Beatty’s indecent proposal and hanging out with David Bowie

As a #Bowie fan my favorite part has to be

While filming the 1969 war comedy The Virgin Soldiers she struck up such a good rapport with a fellow extra that he remembered her when they met again, over a decade later, on the set of 1982 TV movie Baal. By this time that extra, David Bowie, had attained top billing. “He came over and said, ‘Weren’t you in Virgin Soldiers?’ We had supper together in the canteen and talked about mundane things.”

On Thursday, ABC and the academy announced that the 2024 Oscars will start an hour earlier on Sunday, March 10, 2024. The ceremony will commence at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT instead of 8 p.m. ET/ 5 p.m. PT. As a result, the 96th annual Academy Awards are expected to end before 11 p.m. ET/8 p.m. PT, keeping the event’s culmination within primetime hours.

Over the course of Native American Heritage Month, we have highlighted some of the Sundance Institute–supported Indigenous artists, including conversations with Jana Schmieding and Alex Lazarowich. For our final post in this year’s series, we wanted to highlight the legacy of Indigenous artists at Sundance, as well as provide a stacked list of films for you to add to your queue.

Sources:
https://www.tiktok.com/@jasonkpargin/video/7307038730475425070
https://collider.com/lost-in-translation-her-conversation-in-between/
https://www.cinemasters.net/post/her-and-lost-in-translation-two-sides-of-the-same-story

Spain's 'Society of the Snow,' Bhutan's 'The Monk and the Gun,' and Iceland's 'Godland' all make their case for the Academy Awards shortlist. The 2023 contenders for the international film Oscar are filled with tales of real-life struggles from the Ukraine war (Ukraine’s “20 Days in Mariupol”), the Holocaust (United Kingdom’s “The Zone of Interest”) and the European migrant crisis (Italy’s “Io Capitano”). The following three contenders — from Spain, Bhutan and Iceland — fall into that category in many respects, as their stories unfold along distinct and stunning landscapes.

The mixed response to Emerald Fennell’s 00s-set thriller evinces a movie-going conundrum: how do we assess entertainment that is predominantly indexed on vibes? By now, the buzz around Saltburn, Emerald Fennell’s sweaty, lascivious sophomore feature about a middle-class interloper in a vacuously rich family, has begun to settle into two camps. On one side, viewers and the plurality of critics who find the film, which had one of the most successful limited releases this year in the US before expanding nationwide last weekend, to be a flashy, self-satisfied mess of empty provocations. And on the other, those who see Fennell’s remix of Brideshead Revisited and the The Talented Mr Ripley with a dash of mid-aughts Abercrombie & Fitch as a successfully absorbing erotic thriller with titillating shocks. Depraved, but in a fun way, to summarize the predominant sentiment on TikTok.

Everyone agrees that Saltburn, for the most part, looks good – lush, attractive, expensive. (It helps that it stars the Euphoria actor and ascendant screen heartthrob Jacob Elordi.) But are its squirm-inducing visuals – a character slurping another’s cummy bathwater, a literally cocky ending – the mark of perverse genius, or cheap, hollow tricks masquerading as it?...

Focus Features has scheduled the movie for Dec. 25, 2024. On its current release date, “Nosferatu” will land on the big screen a few days after Disney’s “Lion King” prequel “Mufasa” and Paramount’s “Sonic the Hedgehog 3,” both of which open on Dec. 20.

Eggers wrote and directed this take on “Nosferatu,” which features an ensemble cast of Bill Skarsgård, Nicholas Hoult, Lily-Rose Depp, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Emma Corrin, Ralph Ineson, Simon McBurney and Willem Dafoe. It’s the second remake of F. W. Murnau’s iconic 1922 Dracula-inspired silent movie, following Werner Herzog’s 1979 film “Nosferatu the Vampyre.”

The new imagining of the cinematic classic is described as a “gothic tale of obsession between a haunted young woman and the terrifying vampire infatuated with her, causing untold horror in its wake.”

Just when many audiences had written off the innovative Hong Kong auteur, John Woo returns to North America to orchestrate a high-concept comeback.

Director Francis Lawrence shares exciting progress on Constantine 2, with production set to resume after the Thanksgiving holiday.

• Constantine 2 is slowly becoming a reality with a dedicated team behind it.

• The project faced challenges due to shifts in direction and creative control.

• The team now has control of the character and is determined to create a real rated-R version of the film.

A judge believes Joe Watts is lucky to be alive after the "astonishing" failures by the filmmakers. The makers of a Fast & Furious film have been fined £800,000 after a stuntman suffered brain damage during a staged fight scene.

Joe Watts was also left with a broken skull after he fell 25ft (8m) head-first on to the concrete ground.

The incident took place during the filming of Fast & Furious 9: The Fast Saga at Warner Brothers' studios in Leavesden, Hertfordshire, in July 2019.

A judge said Mr Watts was "fortunate to be alive". During a stunt fight scene on a balcony, his safety line detached as he was thrown over the shoulder of another performer.

The backlash against Taika Waititi has manifested stronger than ever with his newest Rotten Tomatoes score, raising the question of what changed.

Loading Docs is a unique initiative that produces short documentaries that move, inspire and challenge audiences locally and internationally, while developing and promoting New Zealand filmmaking talent at home. So far they have been watched by over 17.8 million people.

After selecting a group of short documentary proposals, participants are offered a unique professional development opportunity. Filmmakers are then partially funded to create their short, alongside participating in a talent development programme that challenges them to expand their skills and knowledge in story development; identifying, targeting and connecting with audiences and increasing their understanding of marketing and distribution strategies in the current media climate.

Yamazaki Takashi’s period blockbuster acts as a companion piece to the 1954 film where Godzilla made his debut, giving space to human stories and national politics while letting its seventy-year-old icon wreak impressive havoc on land and sea.

THE BBC has edited out multiple calls for a ceasefire in Gaza from the Scottish Bafta Awards ceremony – including the presentation of an…

'Scream 7' star Melissa Barrera has been fired as Hollywood takes sides over the Israel-Hamas war and tensions run high.

Guillermo del Toro and other filmmakers are championing physical media over streaming.

The International Documentary Association has announced nominations in 18 categories for its 39th awards, which will be awarded in a streaming ceremony on Dec. 12.

The nominees for best feature documentary are “Against the Tide,” “ANHELL69,” “Apolonia, Apolonia,” “Bobi Wine: The People’s President,” “Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project,” “In the Rearview,”
“Milisuthando,” Q,” “The Mother of All Lies” and “While We Watched.”

The awards will unspool at 8 p.m. PT on documentary.org and on IDA’s YouTube, Facebook and Instagram channels.

In many ways, “The Killer” is exactly what you’d expect from a David Fincher movie centered on a hired assassin: a detail-rich procedural about what a hitman is forced to do as his calculated world implodes. And by telling this story of a deadly perfectionist who repeats phrases like "Forbid Empathy" to keep himself centered, Fincher leans into his reputation as a precise—almost obsessive—filmmaker. "The Killer" may be based on a graphic novel by Alexis “Matz” Nolent, but it feels like Fincher's most personal film to date.

Aardman differs from most other major animation studio because of its use of Lewis Newsplast to mould its characters.

This is a plasticine-like substance which is easy to mould but also keeps its shape under hot studio lights.

However, it was only made by one factory, and the Torquay-based manufacturer closed earlier this year.

Critics say it's not a trend but a fad. Whatever the case, one thing's for sure: if you go to the movies this summer, chances are you're going to be there for a while.

Are films getting longer? And how long is too long?

The topic's been dominating cinema circles after Martin Scorsese's epic Killings of the Flower Moon left people glued to their seat for more than one reason. It runs three hours and 26 minutes.

But cinemas who added an intermission off their own bat copped a whack from Scorsese's people.

"And for good reason," said CJ Johnson, president of the Film Critic Circle of Australia. "You have to show it as the artist intends."

Dune: Part Two just had its release date moved up. Unfortunately, that date is not “tomorrow” but we’ll take what we can get. The Denis Villeneuve sci-fi sequel is still coming out March 2024 but now a few weeks earlier.