Delight in The Official Trailer for Questlove’s “Summer of Soul”
One of this summer’s most intriguing releases is the ferociously talented Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson directorial debut, Summer of Soul. Questlove’s deep love and knowledge of music and his longstanding interest and involvement in film make Summer of Love a must-see. When the first teaser dropped during this year’s Oscars Ceremony (he was the Oscars’ musical director), we got our first good glimpse at his hybrid debut—part historical record,
“Lovecraft Country” Production Designer Kalina Ivanov on Melding History & Fantasy
Production designer Kalina Ivanov‘s work on Misha Green‘s Lovecraft Country was one of world-building and resurrecting. The world-building—which included creating more than 162 sets, challenged Ivanov and her team to create haunted houses, a Korean hanok home to a mythical creature, and a pirate ship (to name a few). For the resurrection portion of her work, Ivanov recreated Tulsa’s Greenwood district, known as “Black Wall Street,” the site of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre,
“12 Mighty Orphans” Costume Designer Goes Deep on Football Helmets & Fedoras
As underdog sports dramas go, it’s hard to improve on the fact-based 12 Mighty Orphans, which tracks a team of scrawny teenagers living in a Fort Worth orphanage as they progress from dead-last in their league to the 1938 state finals under the leadership of Coach Rusty Russell (Luke Wilson). Football fans might marvel at the antique charm of the players’ homemade uniforms while vintage fashion buffs can savor a cavalcade of period-perfect hats worn by Wilson,
Final “Tomorrow War” Trailer Features Chris Pratt’s Alien Foes
“We’re food, and they’re hungry,” says Romeo Command (Yvonne Strahovski) in the final trailer for The Tomorrow War. Romeo Command is a tough-as-nails soldier/scientist in the year 2051, and she’s doing her best to get Dan Forester (Chris Pratt) up to speed on just how bad things are going here in the future. That’s one of the conceits of director Chris McKay’s sci-fi feature—Dan has been plucked from his timeline and dropped into the future in an effort to help win the titular war against a race of hungry aliens.
“In The Heights” Supervising Sound Editor On Capturing a Musical City’s Magic
In The Heights is, in all ways, an epic collaboration. Director Jon M. Chu‘s adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tony Award-winning musical, written by original playwright Quiara Alegria Hudes, summoned musicians, choreographers, and a vast team of filmmakers to pull off. It’s never easy to adapt something that was already massively successful in its original form, nor is it easy to make a compelling, modern musical. Throw a pandemic into the middle of it and you’ve cranked up your difficulty setting to eleven.
The Limitless World of Fashion Created by the “Bridgerton” Costume Designers
As we were all distancing ourselves from one another over the past year, Bridgerton burst into our homes with a voyeuristic view of steamy couples getting very, very close. The most indulgent fantasy of the series, however, was imagining the pleasure of putting on a magnificent Regency ensemble and actually having somewhere to go.
We have costume designers Ellen Mirojnick and John Glaser to thank for those scrumptious fashion treats.
“The Flash” Director Andy Muschietti Reveals Barry Allen’s New Logo
The Flash director Andy Muschietti knows how to build intrigue. Muschietti built all sorts of intrigue—and horror, and delight—with his two-part epic It and It: Chapter 2, and now he’s at the reigns of another big Warner Bros. film, trading in killer clowns for speedy superheroes. Muschietti took to Instagram to reveal the new logo for Barry Allen (Ezra Miller)’s super suit.
The image shows the Flash’s iconic gold lightning bolt,
“Star Trek: Discovery” Costume Designer Gersha Phillips on the Future of Fashion
Costume designer Gersha Phillips has been part of building the world of CBS Studios’ Star Trek: Discovery since the beginning, garnering acclaim for her futuristic and creative designs used on the show over its 3 seasons. The 3rd season in particular represented major costume challenges, as the Discovery crew gets propelled through time to almost a thousand years in the future. Phillips and her costume department were more than up to the task,
“Cruella” Sound Editor Mark Stoeckinger on Getting 1970s England Right
Whether it’s her bohemian attic lair, Liberty’s department store, or her job at an insufferable couture designer’s immaculate atelier, young Cruella, née Estella (Emma Stone) divides her time between very particular environments in 1970s England. She and her pals, Jasper (Joel Fry) and Horace (Paul Walter Hauser), are roommates, professional delinquents, and dog-lovers. A terrier and a chihuahua assist them in their lives of petty crime and everyone seems to get along in the free spirit of communal living funded by pickpocketing,
Cinematographer Alice Brooks on Lighting the Real Heights of “In the Heights”
In the Heights, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s pre-Hamilton musical transformed into a film by screenwriter Quiara Alegría Hudes and director Jon M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians) is set over a handful of days at the height of summer in Washington Heights. The action is centered on two would-be couples, Usnavi (Anthony Ramos) and Vanessa (Melissa Barrera), and Benny (Corey Hawkins) and Nina (Leslie Grace). Usnavi, an orphan and bodega owner who dreams of life in the Dominican Republic,
James Wan Reveals The Title for “Aquaman” Sequel
We finally know what Aquaman 2 will be called, thanks to director James Wan, courtesy his Instagram page. The next installment of Wan’s vision for Aquaman is titled Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom, which is an interesting title considering Wan’s comments at last year’s DC FanDome event. “The second one is a little bit more serious, a little bit more relevant to the world we’re living in today. That’s where it wants to go.”
If Aquaman wants to go in a more serious direction,
Two New Epic “Black Widow” Videos Reveal Marvel’s Big Return to Theaters
The first Black Widow video is just a ripping 45-second teaser that showcases why people are so stoked for director Cate Shortland’s film. It gives us a few fresh looks at the film’s villain, Taskmaster, a masked master of whatever his opponent’s fighting style is. This means that Taskmaster will be able to do whatever Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johnasson) can do—and we know that’s a lot. The second video is a 90-second clip that features Natasha and Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) fighting their way out of a building,
“In The Heights” Executive Music Producer Bill Sherman on Marshaling Many Musical Styles
Zooming in from his studio in his basement, executive music producer Bill Sherman was a week away from the end of a very long—but joyous—journey. Sherman was one of the main players responsible for everything you hear in director Jon M. Chu‘s In The Heights, an adaptation of the play that Sherman himself helped create, alongside his former roommate Lin-Manuel Miranda, and playwright (and screenwriter of the movie) Quiara Alegría Hudes,
“In The Heights” Director Jon M. Chu on Capturing a Neighborhood’s Magic
Director Jon M. Chu had to become “a complete listener” to bring the story of the largely Latinx community of In the Heights to life. In an interview, Chu talked about the connections he felt between his Chinese heritage and the characters in the film. He also brought the exuberance that made his previous films, like Crazy Rich Asians and Step Up 2, so vibrant.
How did you focus on the specifics of the Latinx culture for the film?
“The Eyes of Tammy Faye” Trailer Reveals Jessica Chastain as the Conflicted Televangelist
Jessica Chastain is likely not the first actress you’d imagine playing the famous televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker, but once you watch the official trailer, you won’t be able to picture anybody else in the role. Chastain seems to channel Tammy Faye from the lashes to the soul, and the film, by the veteran comedy writer and director Michael Showalter, looks like a portrait created not out of a desire to punish or impugn,
Playwright & Screenwriter Quiara Alegria Hudes on Adapting “In The Heights” for the Big Screen
Quiara Alegria Hudes adapted her Tony Award-winning musical In the Heights for the big screen, with some streamlining and updates. As in the original, it follows the lives of a group of people in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan over a hot summer three-day period that includes a power black-out. In an interview, Hudes talked about using very specific, evocative details to tell a universal story of dreams, home, and family.
It’s often said that the more specific something is,
Review Roundup: “Loki” Mixes Wit, Wackiness, and the MCU’s Most Beloved Antihero
It seems as Marvel Studios is now 3-for-3 on the limited series front. WandaVision started things off as the first Marvel Studios Disney+ series, and creator Jac Schaeffer and director Matt Shakman‘s delivered a charming, beguiling, and ultimately heartbreaking mediation on love, grief, and sitcoms. (Just writing that sentence makes you appreciate what they pulled off). Then came creator Malcolm Spellman and director Kari Skogland‘s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier,
“Black Widow” IMAX Screenings Will Boast 22 Minutes of Expanded Aspect Ratio
The fact that director Cate Shortland’s Black Widow is a mere few weeks away from its premiere is reason enough to celebrate, but now our reasons for excitement have been enlarged by around 26%. Deadline reports that the film will open with an expanded aspect ratio on IMAX—22 minutes worth—meaning the biggest possible picture to watch Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) face down her past.
IMAX revealed the news yesterday,
“In the Heights” Choreographer Christopher Scott on Dancing in The Streets
When Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda needed a director to adapt his 2008 stage musical In the Heights for the big screen, he enlisted Jon M. Chu, director of Crazy Rich Asians and mastermind behind Hollywood’s Step Up dance movie franchise. Chu, in turn, picked his go-to choreographer Christopher Scott to create the movie’s elegantly gritty dance sequences, performed to riveting effect by star Anthony Ramos and his castmates.
Steven Soderbergh’s Star-Studded “No Sudden Move” Drops Trailer
When Steven Soderbergh directs a movie, there are a few things you can expect no matter what. One of them is a star-studded ensemble, and that is certainly the case with his upcoming crime caper, No Sudden Move. Set in Detroit in 1954, No Sudden Move features a ridiculously potent ensemble in a story of small-time criminals tasked with what appears to be an easy, low-stakes crime—lift a document, babysit a family,
