Best of 2024: Richard Linklater on the Killer Chemistry in his Romantic Comedy “Hit Man”
In Richard Linklater‘s latest film, an irresistibly sexy romantic comedy that’s also a bit of a noir, a giddy satire on the hitman genre, and a screwball quasi-whodunit, the one constant is a vibe that is decidedly and effusively all Linklater. Glen Powell, a rising star who has been Linklater’s longtime collaborator through a string of roles dating back to 2006’s Fast Food Nation, plays Gary Johnson, a professor of psychology and philosophy at the University of New Orleans who is as passionate about Nietzsche as he is dispassionate about the affairs of his own life.
Best of 2024: “Furiosa” Art Director Jacinta Leong on That Breathtaking 15-Minute Action Sequence
Nine years after Mad Max: Fury Road star Charlize Theron wreaked havoc as bad-ass adult Furiosa, director George Miller revisits his post-apocalyptic nightmare with Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (in theaters now). The prequel, starring Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth, and the mighty first-generation War Rig truck, features one of the year’s most spellbinding action sequences, a relentless, 15-minute mind-melter that took 78 days to film.
While the 15-minute sequence is the most thrilling action scene of the year (in any film),
Best of 2024: “Shōgun” Editors Aika Miyake and Maria Gonzales on Cutting Mariko’s Heroic Path
*This interview was selected by measures having nothing to do with science as one of our standouts from 2024. Miyake and Gonzales unpack how they helped the story of Anna Sawai’s incredible Lady Mariko.
The first season of Justin Marks and Rachel Kondo’s masterful Shōgun was an expertly paced slow-burn drama that plunged viewers into 17th-century Japan with a passionate obsession with the rigors and wonders of the period and location.
Best of 2024: “Challengers” Screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes on Acing his Zendaya-led Tennis Scorcher
Spoiler Alert: The following article contains spoilers for Challengers.
Back in 2018, playwright and author Justin Kuritzkes was obsessively consuming the world of elite tennis. As the first-time screenwriter conveyed to The Credits, it was better than anything in theaters or on the small screen — tennis was really just that good.
During that year’s U.S. Open match between Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams,
Best of 2024: MPA Creator Award Recipient Writer/Director JA Bayona’s Epic Journey
J.A. Bayona’s Society of the Snow, a reimagining of the real-life 1972 Uruguayan plane crash in the Andes Mountains that caught the world’s attention, is a viscerally astonishing feat of empathetic filmmaking. It was nominated for two Oscars: Best International Feature for Spain and Best Makeup and Hairstyling (Ana López-Puigcerver, David Martí, and Montse Ribé), a sweet coda for a filmmaker who returned to his home country of Spain for the majority of the film’s production.
Best of 2024: “Agatha All Along” Creator Jac Schaeffer on Setting off Marvel’s Witching Hour
Agatha All Along creator Jac Schaeffer explores the witchy side of the Marvel Universe just in time for Halloween. The timing of the show’s release is a happy accident for Schaeffer, who also directed the first two episodes. In bringing the titular witch, Agatha (Kathryn Hahn), back from WandaVision, Schaeffer and her team have made a series with a playful spookiness centered on an irresistible Hahn,
Best of 2024: “Wicked” Director Jon M. Chu Takes Us Behind the Curtain of His Gravity-Defying Adaptation
This interview was selected by measures having nothing to do with science as one of our standouts from 2024. This was one of the easier selections—Chu’s sensational adaptation managed to delight mega-fans of the Broadway juggernaut as well as newbies freshly dazzled by the story of Elphaba, Glinda, and the ramifications of their epic friendship.
Spoilers aplenty!
Black hat seated atop her head, Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) peers around the corner of the Ozdust ballroom,
Christopher Nolan’s Next Film Revealed as Adaptation of “The Odyssey”
The wait to find out what Christopher Nolan’s next film would be about is over. Universal revealed that Nolan’s next film is an adaptation of Homer’s deathless epic poem The Odyssey, which tracks the trials and tribulations of Odysseus as he attempts to return home after the Trojan War, only to have his way blocked by impetuous gods and goddesses.
“Christopher Nolan’s next film, The Odyssey, is a mythic action epic shot across the world using brand new IMAX film technology,” said the studio.
Best of 2024: “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,
Best of 2024: “Inside Out 2” Writer Meg LeFauve on the Power of Adolescent Anxiety
*This interview was selected by measures having nothing to do with science as one of our standouts from 2024. Inside Out 2 co-writer Meg LeFavue, along with scribe Dave Holstein, managed to deliver an immensely satisfying, often surprising sequel to one of the most unique animated films in Pixar’s long, rich history.
Inside Out earned its co-writer Meg LeFauve a Best Screenplay Oscar nomination en route to becoming 2015’s seventh-highest-grossing movie.
Oscar-Nominated “Elvis” Producer Schuyler Weiss on What’s Right About Korea’s Filmmaking Industry
Schuyler Weiss is not long back to his home on Australia’s Gold Coast and so he is still mulling over the takeaways from his trip to the 29th Busan International Film Festival when he sits down to talk. The experience certainly sounds like an eye-opener.
The Oscar-nominated producer of Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis was making his first visit to South Korea for the event – which bills itself as Asia’s largest film festival and which ran from October 2-11.
Best of 2024: How “The Penguin” Production Designer Kalina Ivanov Helped Bring Gotham Back to New York City
*This interview was selected by measures having nothing to do with science as one of our standouts from 2024. The creation of Gotham for HBO’s shockingly good series The Penguin fell, in large part, to ace production designer Kalina Ivanov. Here’s how she pulled it off.
Production designer Kalina Ivanov was destined to be part of the HBO spin-off series The Penguin from creator Lauren LeFranc,
From “Kill Bill” to Martin Scorsese to “Shōgun”: Producer Eriko Miyagawa on Her Hero’s Journey
A lucky break followed by a realization that the road ahead still won’t be a smooth march toward success is a pattern recognizable by many in the entertainment industry and beyond. The fortuitous happenstance for Eriko Miyagawa came in the form of an email saying that Quentin Tarantino was shooting in Beijing and looking for someone fluent in English and Japanese. This felt like an emphatically good turn of fortune for the smart, ambitious Miyawaga.
Fixing Our Laser Eyes on the “Superman” Trailer Easter Eggs, Character Glimpses, and Krypto
The first trailer for James Gunn’s Superman soared into view yesterday, with Superman himself, played by David Corenswet, starting the trailer in a nose-dive into the arctic ice. It was an intriguing way for Gunn to re-introduce the Man of Steel, banged up and clearly in pain (when Superman is having trouble breathing, you know things are serious), in need of assistance from his super-pup, Krypto. While there’s little doubt that Krypto will be a major star,
“Superman” Reborn: The First Trailer for James Gunn’s Reboot Soars
James Gunn’s Superman has taken flight.
The first trailer for Gunn’s rebooted and reborn Man of Steel marks the official start of the feature film era for a newly invigorated DC Studios. However, the trailer opens with David Corenswet’s Superman in rough shape, bleeding in the snow near the Fortress of Solitude. We’re then inside the offices of The Daily Planet, getting our first glimpse of Rachel Brosnahan’s indispensable,
The First “Superman” Teaser Reveals James Gunn’s Epic Man of Steel Reboot
The first teaser for James Gunn’s Superman has arrived, giving us a glimpse of Gunn’s vision for a rebooted, reborn Man of Steel. David Corenswet stars as the legendary Kryptonian who crashlanded on Earth, with Gunn eschewing the usual demands of an origin story (showing us Superman’s arrival and his rise to becoming a protector of all things good) and instead dropping us into a world in which Superman already exists. Yet this first glimpse does give us the sense that people are still in awe of Superman,
“Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse” Snags Directors Justin K. Thompson & Bob Persichetti
The upcoming third film in the Spider-Verse franchise has snagged its directors.
Justin K. Thompson and Bob Persichetti will helm Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse for Sony. They’re longtime alums of the studio’s groundbreaking animated franchise, starting with the showstopping first film, 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which introduced Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), Brooklyn’s very own Spider-Man, into Sony’s larger Spider-Man Universe. Persichetti was part of the directing trio for Into the Spider-Verse and was an executive producer on Across the Spider-Verse;
“Wicked: Part Two” Gets Official New Title Ahead of 2025 Release
The title for the sequel to director Jon M. Chu’s critical and commercial smash hit Wicked is no longer Wicked: Part Two. Universal announced yesterday that the second half of the two-parter is now called Wicked: For Good.
The change is a nod toward a highly anticipated upcoming duet between the movie’s two stars, Cynthia Erivo’s Elphaba and Ariana Grande’s Glinda, in a tune that references their increasingly complex relationship.
“The White Lotus” Season 3 Trailer Unveils a Starry Cast on a Dark Path in Thailand
The first trailer for The White Lotus season 3 has arrived, with the season set in Thailand, where the titular global resort chain offers its guests the kind of peace they so sorely lack in their daily lives. Mike White’s beloved satire returns to HBO this February, with one returning cast member from the first season (Natasha Rothwell) and another killer ensemble.
The new season’s guests include a girl’s trip trio (Leslie Bibb as Kate,
James Gunn’s “Superman” Takes Flight With First Motion Poster
Talk about soaring into Monday with a head full of perfectly coifed hair. The first poster, but static and motion, for James Gunn’s Superman is here. David Corenswet is front and center as the Man of Steel, with the poster flying ahead of the trailer, which is reportedly going to bow this week. There is zero doubt that Superman will be one of the biggest, if not the biggest,
