Composer Christopher Willis on Mickey Mouse Shorts, The Death of Stalin & More
From London’s Royal Academy of Music to Mickey Mouse? Why yes — for composer Christopher Willis, it’s all part of an extensive, varied resume that’s seen him receive a PhD in Musicology from Cambridge as well as score everyone’s favorite series in political satire, Veep. We sat down to chat about the rather complicated music going on in those Mickey Mouse Shorts, why creating a soundtrack to a Disney ride is so tricky,...
A Jacked Josh Brolin Gets Dave Bautista’s Competitive Juices Flowing
Thanos and Drax are having a serious showdown…in the gym. Dave Bautista’s professional wrestling career probably helped him land the gig of playing Drax, the muscle of Guardians of the Galaxy. Now, the bodybuilder says that Marvel co-star Josh Brolin is giving him a run for his money. Brolin is a Hollywood heavyweight but lesser known for his physique. He’s taken on characters like Tom Chaney in True Grit and even Bush 43 in W...
Looking Back at the VFX of Terminator 2: Judgement Day
The 1980s were a pinnacle for practical effects, but CGI was still in its infancy by the time Terminator 2: Judgment Day was released in 1991. James Cameron is one of the most successful filmmakers of all time, but also tops the list for one of the most pioneering. Terminator 2 is being re-released in 3D and VFXBog did a super deep dive speaking with the effects team about what it took to make the film...
Star Wars: The Last Jedi: The First Order’s Two New Deadly Vehicles
After giving fans a glimpse at Kylo Ren’s (Adam Driver) new ship the TIE Silencer, The Star Wars Show has now unveiled two new vehicles that will be featured in The Last Jedi. One is a sleek new pizza slice shaped ship, and the other is an all-terrain ground vehicle. Both belong to The First Order artillery.
The first is the AT-M6 walker which looks a lot like the AT-ATs from The Empire Strikes Back,...
James Gunn Reveals Guardians of the Galaxy Could be the Future of the MCU
In a Facebook Live promotion Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 coming to home video, director James Gunn revealed that the Guardians may be the key the future of the Marvel Universe. So far, the series has been pretty heavily focused on the Avengers with the Guardians are doing their own thing. They will all finally unite, however, in Avengers: Infinity War for the supersized battle against Thanos.
The entire modern MCU was spawned by Iron Man in 2008,...
This Video that Explains Why Christopher Nolan’s Memento Works So Well in Reverse
Lessons From the Screenplay popped up on YouTube last year with really cool break downs of just what makes some of the most beloved stories on screen successful. The newest study explores just how Christopher Nolan made his breakout film Memento. It’s one of the most memorable revenge stories ever told by working backwards.
The story is essentially about Leonard (Guy Pearce) trying to avenge his wife’s murder while struggling with short term memory loss...
Star Wars: The Last Jedi‘s Porgs Make Their Animated Debut
There are some Star Wars creations that are so obviously adorable you almost want to resist loving them. We love the story about how J.J. Abrams first conceived of BB-8 as a soccer ball shaped droid with a drawing on a napkin, and sure enough, BB-8 became a near instant star once The Force Awakens premiered. This is why we were impressed with Rogue One’s resident droid, Alan Tudyk’s K-2SO, which was designed to be unlovable (but ended up being a fan favorite anyway). ...
DC Developing Joker Origin Story With Martin Scorsese and The Hangover‘s Todd Phillips
There’s already a groundswell of opinion about the news Deadline broke: DC Films and Warner Bros. are just starting to develop a new Joker origin story, expanding their Batman universe, and they’re bringing in Martin Scorsese (!!!) to help. Thus far, they’ve attached The Hangover‘s Todd Phillips and 8 Mile screenwriter Scott Silver to co-write the script, with Phillips directing. Scorsese will produce alongside Phillips. This Joker origin story will be unveiled under a new,...
The Origin of Black Panther Explained in 3 Minutes
Marvel has given us a few sneak peaks of Black Panther, and what we’ve seen thus far has been incredible. If you want to get caught up on the story, however, Marvel’s TL;DR series just released a 3 minute summary of Black Panther’s history so you can be in the know before you go see Ryan Coogler’s movie. Now is a good time to get the story straight as Black Panther will not only be starring in his own film,...
Stranger Things‘ David Harbour on his Spin on Hellboy
After his breakout performance as police chief Jim Hopper in Stranger Things (practically the only adult who made any strides to combat the chaos in Hawkins, Indiana, save for Winona Ryder’s Joyce Byers), David Harbour nabbed the role of Hellboy in a new telling of the demon hero, titled Hellboy: The Rise of the Blood Queen. The film is well into production and Harbour opened up on Josh Horowitz’ Happy Sad Confused podcast about tackling the character...
Go Inside It‘s House of Horror at 29 Neibolt Street
While you await the September 8 premiere of Andy Muschietti’s It, fans of Stephen King’s iconic horror classic who live in Los Angeles have a special, creepy opportunity on their hands—they can tour the house on 29 Neibolt Street, where so many of the terrifying moments in It occur. In King’s novel, the Losers Club, our teenage heroes, find themselves at 29 Neibolt Street, a crumbling, abandoned house near the trainyard. It’s beneath the front porch that Eddie Kaspbrak first encounters the shape-shifting It,...
Wonder Woman Smashes Worldwide Box Office
Wonder Woman has done it again, beating out many of her male rivals. This year’s DC Comic smash surpassed $800 million worldwide besting Man of Steel at $668 million and Suicide Squad at $420.5 million. Domestically, Diana Prince defeated Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Spider-Man: Homecoming and Logan at the box office falling short of only Beauty and the Beast for 2017 releases.
DC Comic and Marvel films have long battled for control of the box office,...
This New Blade Runner 2049 Trailer Gives us our First Real Look at the Story
We are getting so close to seeing Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049, the long-awaited sequel to Ridley Scott’s 1982 iconic original. A new trailer just released gives us the most plot-focused look yet at the film, with special attention paid to Jared Leto’s Niander Wallace, the film’s villain.
We are finally able to piece some of Hampton Fancher and Michael Green’s plot together (with the gorgeous cinematography of Roger Deakins, you could be excused for just enjoying ...
Here’s the Painful Meaning Behind Kingsman: The Golden Circle
Super secret spies the Kingsman are up against a new foe The Golden Circle, and the most recent TV commercial reveals the painful bonding technique that gives them their name. According to the spot, the evil members of The Golden Circle all have three things in common. Their fingertips are burned off, their teeth are filed down and they have a circular tattoo made of 24 karat gold. Ouch. There are better ways to sport that bling, guys...
Tim Burton’s Live-Action Dumbo Cast Adds an Oscar Winner
Disney’s latest live action film inspired by high flying circus classic Dumbo has added Oscar Winner Alan Arkin to the cast. Visionary director Tim Burton is taking on the story of the big eared elephant, and he’s reteaming with Arkin, who he worked with on his phenomenal Edward Scissorhands with magical results. We don’t yet know much about Arkin’s character other than he is set to play J. Griffin Remington, a Wall Street tycoon...
Obi-Wan Kenobi Film Finally Happening
Today is a good day to be an Obi-Wan Kenobi fan. Lucasfilm has begun the process of courting director Stephen Daldry, known for his work on Billy Elliot and The Hours, to helm a standalone spinoff based on the beloved Jedi Master. Beyond directing, if all goes as expected, Daldry will contribute to the initial creative and screenwriting processes as well. News about a project like this is unsurprising; with the Star Wars saga being revamped and renewed in recent years,...
St. Vincent Set to Direct Female-Led The Picture of Dorian Gray
There are some classics that will live on forever, and Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray is at the top of that list. Not only because our old pal Dorian sold his soul to never age, but it’s a classic story of vanity, extravagance and vice with a chilling conclusion. Hollywood has sunk it’s teeth into the rich text on many occassions, but a new perspective is about to be told. Annie Clark, who’s alter ego is music superstar St...
One Avenger that Could Survive the Wrath of Thanos
Marvel movies are always kept tightly under lock and key, which sometimes requires keeping details from the actors themselves. But with an ever expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe and a growing cast of characters, there are occasionally clues that pop up. The next installment in the Avengers series is mass-ensemble flick Infinity War, in which the whole team (and then some) unites to fight super villain Thanos—and this time not everyone is expected to make it out alive...
Veteran Documentarian Joshua Z. Weinstein on his Yiddish Comedy Menashe
Making his scripted feature debut, director Joshua Z Weinstein drew not only on his background as a veteran documentary filmmaker but also on silent films. His Menashe is spoken nearly entirely in Yiddish, even though Weinstein speaks very little of the language, and it stars the largely unknown Hassidic comic and actor Menashe Lusting, whom Weinstein describes as “Chaplinesque.”
Yiddish was necessary because Menashe, a contemporary father-son story. is set in the Yiddish-speaking,...
Will the Death Star Make an Appearance in the Han Solo Movie?
The Han Solo movie has been kept under such tight wraps that we don’t even know who half of the cast is playing, but director Ron Howard dropped a major clue (we just aren’t sure yet exactly what it means.) The Hollywood heavyweight took to Twitter to post this picture of a Death Star trooper helmet with the caption “The Empire Looms Large.”
The question now is, how does this fit in? Will we be seeing the Death star in the new film?...
