“Talk To Me” Directors Danny & Michael Philippou on Crafting the Year’s Most Unsettling Horror Film
Danny and Michael Philippou do not pull their punches in their chilling feature film directorial debut Talk to Me. Having honed their craft over years making short films, the twins crafted a horror movie that screams with confidence and passion, where not a single scare seems to miss the mark. There’s a reason the powerhouse mini-major studio A24, behind some of the best horror films of the last decade, got behind these two.
“Haunted Mansion” Cinematographer Jeffrey Waldron Gathers Ghostly Delights in Frame
Directed by Justin Simien, Disney’s Haunted Mansion has an all-star cast, a funny, touching script, killer New Orleans scenery, and for a wellspring of inspiration, the Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland, which holds particular sway over the movie’s aesthetic. The original ride veers from comedic to creepy, which for cinematographer Jeffrey Waldron (Little Fires Everywhere, The Morning Show), worked well as a starting point for designing different aesthetics for Haunted Mansion’s various astral planes.
“Oppenheimer” IMAX Run Extended Due to Popular Demand
The Oppenheimer phenomenon continues on the biggest screens.
Due to popular demand, Christopher Nolan’s epic biopic about J. Robert Oppenheimer (played by a sensational Cillian Murphy) will stay in IMAX theaters nationwide through the end of August. Previously, Oppenheimer was scheduled to conclude its run on IMAX 70mm format on August 17, but now exhibitors will keep Nolan’s masterpiece on those colossal screens through August thanks to massive demand.
“Barbie” and Greta Gerwig Make History Again
It’s a Barbie world—it’s also Greta Gerwig’s world—and we’re happy to be living in it.
Gerwig is now the first-ever solo female director to helm a billion-dollar movie, as Barbie surpassed that major milestone this past weekend. Gerwig’s gangbusters take on Mattel’s iconic doll has nabbed $459 million in North America and $572 million internationally, putting Gerwig in the exclusive billion-dollar club and making her the only solo female director in it.
“Haunted Mansion” VFX Supervisor Edwin Rivera Gives These New Ghosts a Spectral Charge
The spirits have materialized for Disney’s latest comedy adventure Haunted Mansion. Everyone’s favorite spectral residents, from the hatchet-wielding Bride to the Hatbox Ghost, are coming out of their coffins for a swinging good time. The film fleshes out the skeletal stories of the spooky spirits who haunt Disney theme parks around the world. VFX Supervisor Edwin Rivera, who hails from visual effects studio DNEG, cast the classic characters in a new light.
“Meg 2: The Trench” Deep Dive: Jason Statham vs. Multiple Megalodons is Pure Cinema
These days, action movies are hardly lacking — you’ve got John Wick, Ethan Hunt, the Fast & Furious family, the heroes of RRR, and whoever the next James Bond will be — yet we did have one quibble; we needed more man-versus-prehistoric monster shark action. Ever since 2018’s The Meg swam into our lives, we realized there’s a certain center in our brain that seems to demand a single thing;
“Brother” Writer/Director Clement Virgo on Returning to Filmmaking With His Quietly Devastating Adaptation
Writer/director Clement Virgo followed his instincts when he returned to feature filmmaking. Since his last feature, Poor Boy’s Game (2007), Virgo has been directing TV, working more or less nonstop. He’s directed episodes of Empire, Netflix’s Dahmer- Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, and OWN’s megachurch drama Greenleaf. He was thinking about getting back into features when a friend handed him a copy of David Chariandy’s novel “Brother,”
Paramount Pictures’ Archive Team Andrea Kalas & Randall Thropp on a Few of Their Favorite Things
There is an argument to be made that there could be an investigative series starring Paramount’s senior vice president of archives Andrea Kalas and costume and prop archivist Randall Thropp. Among their myriad of responsibilities for the vast archives of one of Hollywood’s most legendary studios, Kalas and Thropp are often called upon to act as asset sleuths, uncovering iconic (and lesser known) props, costumes, and more from Paramount’s 111 history that were scattered across the globe before the archives department was created.
Guillermo del Toro, Spider-People, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Welcome to the Latest Animation Renaissance
The weapon-wielding mutated reptilian darlings of New York City are back fighting crime in the newest rendition of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series. This fresh installment from director Jeff Rowe, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, will hit theaters on August 2, and the film boasts some serious talent, including Seth Rogen (he co-stars, co-wrote, and co-produced the film), Jackie Chan, and John Cena, as well as up-and-coming star Ayo Edebiri (The Bear).
Discovering A Latin American Myth Through Jonás Cuarón’s “Chupa”
In the world of Chupa, Jonás Cuarón, renowned co-writer of Gravity and writer-director of Desierto, invites young viewers on a thrilling adventure immersed in the Latin American legend of the Chupacabras. With a vision to create a universally beloved character akin to the iconic creatures from Gremlins or E.T., Chupa not only presents a captivating story but also serves as a gateway for bicultural children to explore their cultural roots and cultivate a deeper appreciation for their Latin American heritage.
How Editor Eddie Hamilton Cut “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” to the Quick
As it is, Tom Cruise’s new Mission: Impossible movie (now playing) runs a hefty two hours and forty-three minutes, but what people see in theaters actually represents a very slimmed-down version of the original cut that director Christopher McQuarrie screened for his friends. “It ran four hours,” says Cruise’s go-to editor Eddie Hamilton. “We watched it in a screening room with 40 people, and it was two and a half hours to Venice.
“Oppenheimer” Composer Ludwig Göransson Creates a New Kind of Atomic Scale
When Chris Nolan wrapped Tenet in 2919, actor Robert Pattinson gave him a book of J. Robert Oppenheimer speeches as a parting gift. That tome led Nolan to Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin’s “American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer.” For the next three years, Nolan used the Pulitzer Prize-winning biography as the foundation for what critics are hailing as his most mature, emotional work.
Oppenheimer stars Cillian Murphy (Peaky Blinders) as the brilliant physicist who was tapped to run the Manhattan Project,
“The Exorcist: Believer” Trailer Unleashes David Gordon Green’s New Installment in Iconic Horror Franchise
Halloween director David Gordon Green has tapped into another iconic horror franchise to scare the living daylights out of us. After expertly taking on The Shape in his ripping Halloween trilogy, Green turns his eye toward arguably the most iconic horror franchise of them all. It was exactly 50 years ago this Fall that The Exorcist landed in theaters and shocked audiences across the globe. Now, the first trailer for Green’s The Exorcist: Believer reveals what happens when Green and horror shop extraordinaire Blumhouse team up to take on the most iconic horror franchise of all time and tap into our most primal fears.
“Oppenheimer” Stars Robert Downey Jr. and Florence Pugh Were in Awe of Cillian Murphy
When we spoke to Oppenheimer writer/director Christopher Nolan, his passion for getting inside the experience of J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) before, during, and after he led the Manhattan Project and created the atomic bomb was, unsurprisingly, vividly evident. And when you have a star director marshaling all of his storytelling gifts to tell the tale of one man’s life, both his crowning achievement and what might have been his most profound mistake,
“Barbie” Hair & Makeup Artist Ivana Primorac Conjures Personality From Plastic
How do you turn a human into a doll? Or, let’s reverse that—how do you turn the most iconic doll ever made into a human? These were the intermingled questions makeup and hair designer Ivana Primorac had to answer for co-writer and director Greta Gerwig’s history-making new film Barbie. Reader? She succeeded.
Primorac has worked on a slew of excellent, disparate projects, from the Winston Churchill biopic The Darkest Hour to HBO’s brilliantly executed crime series Mare of Easttown to Netflix’s magisterial The Crown.
“Oppenheimer”: Character Actor David Dastmalchian Doesn’t Want to Disappoint
David Dastmalchian is no stranger to the cinematic world of Christopher Nolan. In 2008, the Chicago-based theater actor caught a big break when he landed the role of a Joker stooge in Nolan’s now iconic The Dark Knight. Fifteen years later, Dastmalchian, now a seasoned character actor with a long list of small but potent roles in massive features, including Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner: 2049 and Dune and the upcoming Late Night with the Devil,
The Barbenheimer Phenomenon Was Real, and Historic
An iconic piece of Americana and the philosophical-minded father of the atom bomb have got to be the two most unlikely partners in cinematic history of all time, but here we are—and it’s glorious. Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer—now collectively known as Barbenheimer—joined together to bring in the fourth-largest weekend at the box office in movie history.
Gerwig made history with the largest opening weekend for a female director ever,
Christopher Nolan on Exploding Myths & Exposing Humanity in “Oppenheimer”
Spoilers below; approach with extreme caution if you haven’t seen the film yet.
Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) stares wide-eyed into the pond spread out in front of him; his last conversation with Albert Einstein (Tom Conti) on the potential catalytic effects of the atomic bomb has rendered him speechless. The music swells as the screen fades to black — the final scene of Christopher Nolan’s highly-anticipated Oppenheimer.
A “singularly dramatic moment in history” — That’s how Nolan describes the motivation behind his desire in telling the story of Robert Oppenheimer.
Greta Gerwig Makes History as “Barbie” Becomes Biggest Opening Weekend Ever For Female Director
It turns out that following your fear can result in you making history.
Co-writer/director Greta Gerwig told one of her Barbie stars, Dua Lipa, that the idea of creating a feature film out of the iconic Matell doll terrified her. “It was something that was exciting because it was terrifying,” she said on Dua Lipa’s podcast At Your Service. “It felt like vertigo, starting to write it,
Pretty in Pink With “Barbie” Production Designer Sarah Greenwood & Set Decorator Katie Spencer
“It was trying to find a solution to what makes a toy,” says production designer Sarah Greenwood about creating the charmed sets of Barbie alongside set decorator Katie Spencer. The two have been near inseparable, having worked on over thirty projects together. Darkest Hour, Beauty and the Beast, and Anna Karenina are among their six Academy Award nominations. “It became this huge journey of discovery,