The Streaming Innovation Alliance’s Mission Continues
The Streaming Innovation Alliance turns a year old today. If you haven’t heard of SIA, you’ve certainly been impacted by its commitment to giving streamers a unified voice so they can keep creating the films and television series you love – and delivering them to audiences when, where, and how they choose to watch. Once viewed as an upstart to traditional entertainment, streamers have become a beloved part of the visual storytelling landscape. As the advent and deployment of digital film capabilities upended but did not replace the use of film on film and TV sets,
“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” Production Designer Mark Scruton’s Masterful Marriage of Art & Architecture
“It was going to be a continuation of the first film and not some sort of reboot,” production designer Mark Scruton says about Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the sequel to the 1988 cult classic that reunites the absurdly talented Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder as everyone’s favorite goth-undead will they won’t they couple.
The story picks up years after the events in Beetlejuice and sees the Deetz family – Ryder’s Lydia,
Prime Directive: “Transformers One”‘ Writers Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari on Crafting an Epic Origin Story
When it comes to toy-inspired movie franchises, Hasbro’s Optimus Prime beat Mattel’s Barbie to the punch by several decades. The franchise includes a 1986 cartoon feature, five Michael Bay movies, and two spinoffs. The seemingly never-ending battle between Autobots and Decepticons finally gets its backstory in the animated prequel Transformers One. Featuring the voices of Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry, Scarlett Johansson, and Keegan-Michael Key, the movie follows a young Optimus Prime (Hemsworth) and Megatron (Henry) before they become arch-enemies.
“Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow” Casts Matthias Schoenaerts as the Villain
One of the biggest movies not named Superman currently brewing in James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DC Studios is director Craig Gillespie’s (I, Tonya, Cruella) Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. The upcoming feature stars House of the Dragon‘s Milly Alcock as Superman’s cousin, Kara Zor-El, in a film inspired by Tom King and Bilquis Evely’s well-regarded, rough-around-the-edges comic about Kara’s hard-scrabble life and her immense powers.
“Sinners” Trailer Reveals Ryan Coogler & Michael B. Jordan’s Mysterious Horror-Thriller
Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan’s mysterious feature has finally been revealed. The trailer for their latest collaboration, Sinners, is here, revealing Coogler’s original horror-thriller set in the 1930s Jim Crow-era South. Coogler took to social media yesterday to reveal the film’s poster (which, naturally, features Jordan) and the caption “Dance with the devil…and he’ll follow you home.”
View this post on Instagram“My Old Ass” Writer/Director Megan Park on Magic, Mushrooms, and Meeting Yourself
In Megan Park’s wide-eyed, warm-as-the-waning-summer-evenings sophomore feature, My Old Ass, time itself is a trip.
When Elliott (Maisy Stella) ushers in her 18th birthday with a camping excursion à la psilocybin-laced mushrooms, the last thing she expects is her psyche to conjure up an “old ass” version of herself (at 39 years old), portrayed by Aubrey Plaza. With her last summer in the picturesque lakeside town of Muskoka, Canada, before she heads off to the University of Toronto,
Ridley Scott’s “Gladiator II” Unsheathes Ferocious New Trailer
A bloody, bold new trailer for Gladiator II, Ridley Scott’s long-awaited followup to his Best Picture Winner, has arrived. The new look is the longest, bloodiest, most thrilling yet. We’re introduced to the art of choosing gladiators, as explained by Denzel Washington’s Macrinus, who is usually sorting through prisoners of war and who sees something special in Paul Mescal’s Lucius, a young man with the requisite rage to survive the Coliseum, and all the lesser,
Marvel Reveals First “Thunderbolts” Trailer Unleashes the Bad Guys on the Worse Guys
We now have our first peek at Marvel Studios’ upcoming antihero team-up movie Thunderbolts.
The trailer opens with a family reunion—former Black Widow and all-around butt-kicker Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) arrives at the door of her father, Alexia Shostakov (David Harbour), better known as the Red Guardian. The last time we saw these two together was in Black Widow, the one and only stand-alone movie for Scarlett Johansson’s Avenger and former Black Widow herself,
“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” Hair and Makeup Head Christine Blundell on Bringing Out the Dead
Almost four decades after the original, Tim Burton’s follow-up, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, is a hit for Warner Bros. Reprising their original roles, Winona Ryder’s Lydia is now a television talk show host ghost hunter, Catherine O’Hara’s Delia is still a daffy cosmopolitan creative, and Michael Keaton’s Beetlejuice remains an undead charlatan pining for Lydia. Lydia also has a teenage daughter, Astrid (Jenna Ortega), who misses her late dad, Richard (Santiago Cabrera),
“Transformers One” Director Josh Cooley on Humanizing the Origin of Optimus Prime and Megatron’s Ancient Feud
Transformers One isn’t the first animated Transformers film, but it has achieved multiple firsts for the iconic franchise.
The science fiction action film is an origin story that focuses on the early relationship of Orion Pax and D-16, how they changed the fate of their home planet of Cybertron, and how they became Optimus Prime and Megatron, respectively. Directed by Josh Cooley, best known for helming Oscar-nominated Toy Story 4,
“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” Editor Jay Prychidny on Capturing a Debauched Poltergeist’s Manic Energy
36 years after he first burst onto the screen in his title film—for a grand total of 17 minutes, by the way—Michael Keaton’s debauched poltergeist is back in trademark sinister style, black and white suit and hair akimbo, in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. Tim Burton’s sequel turns up the heart, laughs, and gags, a cinematic feast overflowing with gleeful madness only Burton and his regular team of collaborators—longtime costume designer Colleen Atwood and composer Danny Elfman included—could dream up.
Designed to Shred: How “Alien: Romulus” Costume Designer Carlos Rosario Stylized Horror
Previously, we talked to Alien: Romulus costume designer Carlos Rosario about how American farmers’ attire from the 1940s-1960s inspired some of the wardrobe for our Jackson’s Star inhabitants and several sartorial callbacks from the first two films in the franchise.
In part two, Rosario discusses how director Fede Alvarez’s approach to his ferocious interquel helped the designer account for the wear and tear on the costumes, caused,
Robert Pattinson is Ready to be Reborn in Official “Mickey 17” From Bong Joon Ho
The official trailer for Oscar-winner Bong Joon Ho’s Mickey 17 has landed, revealing the Parasite auteur’s sci-fi mind-bender with Robert Pattinson playing a young man so desperate for a change he’s willing to die—again and again—for a chance at a new kind of life. Ain’t that a kick in the head? The trailer is set to Sinatra’s version of the iconic tune, and the match makes perfect sense as we watch Mickey get,
“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” Editor Jay Prychidny on the Gospel of Ghoulish Pacing
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice isn’t a rehash of the past. Director Tim Burton revisits familiar characters and locations to tell a new story about aging, family, and regaining a sense of self that can get lost along the way through life’s trials and tribulations. It’s not just a nostalgic sequel but another personal adventure from the mind of one of contemporary cinema’s most singular filmmakers.
As usual with a Burton film, there are a lot of forces at play,
“Deadpool & Wolverine” Editors on Shaping Wolverine’s Masterpiece Emotional Explosion—in a Minivan
Who wouldn’t want to watch Hugh Jackman deliver a satisfying performance? Better yet, let’s dress him up in one of the most iconic comic book hero costumes of all time and throw him in a minivan in some random forest with an intemperately smart-mouthed passenger. What could go wrong? Apparently, everything when it comes to Deadpool & Wolverine, this summer’s massive box office hit about two dudes on a world-saving multiverse road trip from director Shawn Levy (Stranger Things).
“Alien: Romulus” Costume Designer Carlos Rosario’s Retro Vision & Vintage Style Blends – Part One
The only film so far to take this summer’s box office juggernaut Deadpool & Wolverine off the #1 spot for a spell was Fede Álvarez’s sci-fi horror Alien: Romulus, which brought back one of the most frightful monsters in cinematic history—the lobster-like face-strangling Xenomorphs! Taking place between Ridley Scott’s 1979 revered original and James Cameron’s 1986 fan-favorite sequel, Aliens, the cortisol-triggering interquel from 20th Century Studios centers on a new generation of colonists in their 20s,
“Merchant Ivory” Director Stephen Soucy on His Must-See Doc for Film Lovers
The name Merchant Ivory is so synonymous with lustrous period films, particularly literary adaptations of the works of E. M. Forster and Henry James, that even some astute filmgoers assumed it was a studio or a brand. It was both those things, but it was foremost the names of two men—US-born director James Ivory and India-born producer Ismail Merchant—who together formed a partnership that changed modern moviemaking.
That’s the major takeaway from Stephen Soucy’s illuminating and entertaining documentary Merchant Ivory.
A Quarter-Century Later, We’re Quoting “The Matrix” More Than Ever
Wake up, Neo. The Matrix was released 25 years ago this year. From that first entreaty, as it appeared on computer programmer Thomas Anderson’s (Keanu Reeves) black computer screen, to the hacker’s life-changing choice — red pill or blue? — Lilly and Lana Wachowski’s dystopian action thriller became and remains a technological and cultural bellwether.
Hollywood, movie-going, fashion, and superheroes look nothing like they did in 1999, yet The Matrix memes don’t stop,
Stars Remember the Legendary, Singular James Earl Jones
There is perhaps no actor in the medium’s history whose voice alone was such a work of art it represented the most complicated, iconic villain of all time and the most noble, legendary animated character. James Earl Jones, who died Monday morning at the age of 93, was the man who lent his otherworldly vocal chops to Darth Vader, the character that defined the very best of Star Wars in his complexity, rage,
“Deadpool & Wolverine” Editors Dean Zimmerman & Shane Reid on the Killer Cut
When a movie trailer makes history by snatching 365 million views in 24 hours, at the very least, the studio behind it knows they have an interested audience. Deadpool & Wolverine did so in February this year and then trickled out a treasure trove of marketing materials leading up its July release. Everything from conspiracy riddled images, popcorn bucket sets, possible cameos,
