Oscar-Nominated Sound Designer Frank Kruse Makes Some Noise on “All Quiet on the Western Front”
All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque’s 1929 novel that lays bare the harsh brutality of war through the eyes of a naive youth fighting in the German trenches during WWI, is considered a literary classic. So Frank Kruse admits some hesitation when director Edward Berger told him he was doing a modern retelling. That disappeared after Kruse read the script. Though the challenge would be daunting, he wanted to be the film’s sound designer and supervising sound editor...
Filmmaker Sara Dosa Captures a Couple’s Burning Passion in Her Oscar-Nominated Doc “Fire of Love”
When Sara Dosa won Best Film Documentary Director from the Directors Guild on February 18 for Fire of Love, it was no doubt an acknowledgment of the daunting task Dosa faced in shaping nearly 200 hours of 16 mm archival footage shot by her subjects, without sound, into her mesmerizing film. Fire of Love is also nominated for this year’s Best Documentary Oscar.
Fire of Love, a National Geographic film on Disney+,...
Oscar-Nominee Brendan Fraser on his Deep Dive into “The Whale”
Filmmaker Darren Aronofsky often pursues the road less taken in movies like The Wrestler, Black Swan and Requiem for a Dream. He’s done it again in The Whale, which stars Oscar-nominated Brendan Fraser as Charlie, a 600-pound English teacher who conducts classes over Zoom with his screen image hidden so students can’t see his true size. The entire film (now available on demand on Prime Video, Apple TV and elsewhere) takes place inside Charlie’s apartment,...
“The Whale” Oscar-Nominated Prosthetics Artist Adrien Morot Breaks the Mold
When it comes to makeup effects, Adrien Morot ranks among the very best. From fierce alligators (Crawl), to mutant superheroes (X Men films X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men: Apocalypse, and Dark Phoenix), to this year’s favorite film doll (M3GAN), Morot has proven time and again he’s a prosthetic wizard. But even he wondered if he had met his match when director Darren Aronofsky offered him The Whale...
“Cocaine Bear” VFX Supervisor Robin Hollander on Creating an Ursine Junkie
Cocaine Bear began snorting up viral eyeballs last fall, boosted by a madcap trailer that racked up 18 million views. Now boasting a $28 million opening weekend, second only to M3GAN as 2023’s biggest non-franchise hit, it’s based on the true story of a black bear who discovered a duffel bag of cocaine in the Georgia woods. Directed by Elizabeth Banks, Cocaine Bear features human stars Keri Russell, Alden Ehrenreich and Isiah Whitlock Jr.,...
Go Deep “Inside” With Willem Dafoe in Curated Look at his New Art Thief Thriller
Willem Dafoe is a national treasure, which makes his latest film Inside such a perfect vehicle for him. Dafoe plays an art thief poetically named Nemo who takes on a job filching treasures from a high-tech New York penthouse that goes disastrously wrong. In a new featurette released by Focus Features, art curator Leonardo Bigazzi walks us through the exquisite art collection depicted in the film, and explains how each work of art speaks directly to Nemo’s increasingly dire circumstances...
“Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania” Composer Christophe Beck on Kang, the Langs, & Depeche Mode
Christophe Beck is one of the most prominent composers in the Marvel sandbox. He not only scored all three Ant-Man films but co-composed Hawkeye and, to great acclaim, WandaVision. After eight years of collaborating with the Marvel team, Beck is well-versed in the MCU’s sonic landscape.
The composer’s first collaboration with director Peyton Reed was years before he composed themes for Ant-Man’s miniaturized adventures. The two first worked together on Bring It On,...
“Sharper” Star Briana Middleton on Finding Her Edge in Apple TV’s New Thriller
Filled with plot twists, double-crosses and characters who never seem to be who they are, Sharper is designed to keep you guessing right to the end. But one thing is for certain; with a razor-sharp cast that includes Julianne Moore, Briana Middleton, Sebastian Stan, Justice Smith and John Lithgow, the Apple TV+ original film delivers its many satisfactions with a cast more than equal to the job.
“It’s so fun,” says Middleton during a recent interview...
“Everything Everywhere All At Once” Makes History at 29th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards
Everything Everywhere All At Once lived up to its title last night, grabbing just about everything in sight at the SAG Awards and all at once. In a record-setting night at the SAG Awards, the indie juggernaut took home all of the movie category awards (save for the non-televised stunt ensemble). Not for nothing, on Saturday night, Everything Everywhere All At Once grabbed the Best Picture Award at the Producers Guild, completing a weekend sweep that sets it up as the movie to beat at the Academy Awards,...
Harpo Films Director of Development & Production Lauren Tuck Wants Her Creators to Flourish
Harpo Films and OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network has been leading the pack in Hollywood in terms of diversity and inclusion for years. From the very beginning of OWN’s drama series Queen Sugar, creator Ava DuVernay envisioned using all female directors for the series, and both OWN and Harpo Films were 100% behind that. DuVernay’s show proved a hit, and her commitment to hiring diverse female directors resulted in greater success for the 42 helmers that took part...
Steven Yeun Joins the Cast of Marvel’s “Thunderbolts”
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has just nabbed another Oscar-nominee.
Steven Yeun will join the antihero epic Thunderbolts for Marvel Studios, The Hollywood Reporter scoops, in a juicy yet unspecified role. Yeun was nominated for an Oscar for his outstanding work in writer/director Lee Isaac Chung’s Minari, played a key role in Jordan Peele’s sci-fi horror Nope, and will star in Parasite director Bong Joon Ho’s upcoming sci-fi film Mickey 7. ...
New “Lord of the Rings” Movies Coming to Warner Bros. & New Line
Grab your stoutest friends and prepare a fellowship for a quest because multiple return trips to Middle-earth are currently being plotted.
Fresh details have emerged that Warner Bros. and New Line have struck a deal with Embracer Group AB, the folks who hold the film rights to the property, which will allow Warner Bros. and New Line to develop new features based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” and “Lord of the Rings” books. Considering the abundant wealth of storylines,...
“The Flash” Will Premiere at CinemaCon 2023
The Flash is going to race into theaters for the very first time at CinemaCon 2023 this coming April.
Warner Bros. will be premiering director Andy Muschietti’s film at the annual convention of theater owners in Las Vegas, Variety reports, fueling the speculation that the studio is very enthusiastic about their upcoming superhero film. DC Studios co-chief James Gunn went on record saying The Flash was one of the best superhero movies he’d ever seen,...
“The Pope’s Exorcist” Finds Russell Crowe as the Vatican’s Demon Slayer
Father Gabriele Amorth (Russell Crowe) has a highly specific and unsettling job—he’s the Chief Exorcist of the Vatican. If you’re the chief demon slayer for the Vatican, you’re likely going to be a busy man, and that is indeed the case for Father Amorth.
In the first trailer for The Pope’s Exorcist, Crowe inhabits Father Amorth as he takes on the case of a young boy’s horrifying possession, and his investigation leads to a secret the Vatican has been trying to keep for centuries...
“Boston Strangler” Trailer Finds Keira Knightley’s Determined Reporter Tracking a Serial Killer
An all-star cast has gathered to tell the tale of the one of the most notorious serial killers in American history and the two women who risked it all to try and unmask the murderer and reveal the truth. Now, the first trailer for writer/director Matt Ruskin’s Boston Strangler gives us our first look at the film, which was inspired by a true story that has yet to be told on the screen.
Keira Knightley stars as Loretta McLaughlin,...
Zach Galifianakis Will Star in a Live-Action Adaptation of “Lilo & Stitch” for Disney+
A potent team of funny filmmakers is combining to adapt a beloved animated film into a live-action romp. The always game (and painfully funny) Zach Galifianakis is teaming with director Dean Fleischer Camp, the filmmaker behind the little indie film that could, Marcl the Shell With Shoes On, to remake Disney’s 2002 Lilo & Stitch as a live-action movie. The Hollywood Reporter broke the story.
Lilo &...
“Knock at the Cabin” VFX Supervisor Tommy Tran on Creating an Unnervingly Believable Apocalypse
Seeing is believing. At least, the four prophets preaching the end of the world in M. Night Shyamalan‘s Knock at the Cabin hope that is the case. The quartet predict a series of plagues that will bring about the end of humanity unless a sacrifice is made, but will the sacrifice buy their story in time? VFX Supervisor with FuseFX Tommy Tran led work on the first global catastrophe and the eerie aftermath of all four events...
M. Night Shyamalan Headed to Warner Bros. in First-Look Deal
M. Night Shyamalan is taking his talents to Warner Bros.
The writer/director is moving studios, after a long, fruitful relationship with Univeral that saw Shyamalan hone his chops with taut, contained, but still ambitious thrillers. His next feature, Trap, will be a Warner Bros. film when it debuts on August 2, 2024.
Shyamalan’s first-look deal with Warner Bros. will see him develop projects for both Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line. The latter just struck a deal with Shyamalan’s daughter,...
“Sick” Production Designer Jenny Möller Builds the Lake House From Hell in Peacock’s Peak Pandemic Slasher
Slashers don’t take sick days, even during a lockdown. Leave it to Scream writer Kevin Williamson to give us more to fear than the virus in Peacock’s Sick, which takes us back to the peak of the COVID pandemic. Best friends Parker (Gideon Adlon) and Miri (Bethlehem Million) quarantine together at a luxury lake house, but their isolation is interrupted by a masked killer.
Production Designer Jenny Möller rolled back the clock to an eerie experience we all shared –...
Sequels of “I Am Legend” With Will Smith & Michael B. Jordan & “Constantine” With Keanu Reeves in The Works
Two sequels to two very distinct but potent films are coming to Warner Bros. Deadline reports that Akiva Goldsman has inked a multi-year first-look deal with the studio and sequels to I Am Legend and Constantine are a part of the deal.
Warner Bros Pictures co-chairs De Luca and Abdy said this of the veteran Goldsman in a joint statement: “[Akiva] is a consummate producer, a brilliant writer, and a kind and generous human being...
