Writer/Director Eliza Hittman on her Bracing, Brilliant Film Never Rarely Sometimes Always
When Eliza Hittman, writer/director of Never Rarely Sometimes Always, took the stage after the premiere of her film at the Sundance Film Festival on January 24th of this year, she was greeted with rapturous applause. She and the stars of her film have gained critical acclaim for her intimate, powerful portrayal of one teenager’s perilous journey of the soul. Never Rarely Sometimes Always is about the challenges facing 17-year-old Autumn (Sidney Flanigan),
HBO Makes 500 Hours’ Worth of Programming Available for Free
There have been watch lists galore since millions of people started practicing social distancing, self-quarantining, and sheltering in place due to the spread of COVID-19. Rian Johnson and Edgar Wright shared their favorite 70s musicals and comedies, respectively, while James Gunn offered a top-10 list of films you probably haven’t seen but should. Our own Desson Thomson gave us a thorough compendium of shows and films we could be enjoying,
Watch Shazam Director David F. Sandberg’s New Short Horror Film
Look, the most important thing for everyone to do right now, those of us not in essential jobs and not on the front lines of fighting the spread of COVID-19, is to practice social distancing. There was a whole flurry of Tweets going around at the beginning of the pandemic, reminding us what some other famous folks did during their quarantine. For example, did you know that Shakespeare wrote “King Lear”
A Quiet Place: Part II & Top Gun: Maverick Get New Release Dates
While all dates are subject to change at the moment considering the unprecedented situation we find ourselves in, there is some news on the film release front worth sharing. Paramount Pictures has announced that two of their big releases for this year have new release dates. John Krasinski’s highly anticipated A Quiet Place: Part II and the return of Tom Cruise’s speed-needing super pilot in Top Gun: Maverick will be out on the first weekend in September and during Christmas,
Late-Night TV Adapts to a Changed World
As the spread of COVID-19 stalled productions and delayed film premieres, you could make a case that the most visible manifestation of the global pandemic on the entertainment industry was the lack of late-night TV shows. Starting around mid-March, every single one of the late-night programs, from The Late Show With Stephen Colbert to Full Frontal With Samantha Bee to Conan, went dark. The folks that millions of Americans invite into their living rooms and bedrooms every night,
ESPN’s Michael Jordan Documentary The Last Dance Reveals 1st Trailer
There’s a certain beat that will instantly transport those of us who were avid sports fans in the 90s. The beat comes from a song (which I’d never known until this moment, after Googling it) by the British rock band The Alan Parsons Project. The song is called “Sirius.” This brief instrumental, under two minutes long, was adopted by the Chicago Bulls to introduce their starting lineup during their epic run of six NBA championships between 1991 and 1998.
Rick and Morty’s Season 4 Trailer is as Bonkers as You’d Hope
Need a laugh? Yeah, us too. We all do about now, and there are few more reliable places to get a bunch of them then Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon’s Rick and Morty. Season four continues on May 3, which, yes, feels like a very long time from now. The Emmy Award-winning animated comedy aired five episodes of season four at the end of last year (December 15 to be exact),
Steven Spielberg Introduces the New AFI Movie Club
While those of us not on the front lines of battling the spread of COVID-19 are all hunkered down and doing our part by staying at home, we’ve gotten our fair of share of great watch lists from some major talents. Rian Johnson and Edgar Wright shared their favorite 70s musicals and comedies, respectively, while James Gunn offered a top ten list of films you probably haven’t seen but should.
An Aspiring Costume Designer Contemplates Life after COVID-19
The call came in 2014. It was 6 o’clock at night, Rachel Apatoff remembers. Would she be interested in working as a costume production assistant on a little TV show called Mad Men? It would bring her a straight 10 months of work, a nice stretch of employment for anyone in the industry, not just for a costumer.
Well, sure, Apatoff told them. When did they want her to start?
A Most Beautiful Thing Director Mary Mazzio Films a Miracle on the Water
Director Mary Mazzio was set to take her documentary A Most Beautiful Thing to SXSW this year. Then the spread of COVID-19 became such an undeniable reality in the United States that SXSW was canceled. The news of that cancellation came along with the shuttering of film and TV productions all across the globe. Once theaters started closing, world premieres were pushed back months, too.
“It’s a bummer,
Spike Lee Shares his Unproduced Script for Jackie Robinson Biopic
Yesterday we got a surprise gift from writer/director/actor John Krasinski revealed Some Good News, his DIY news program he revealed on YouTube that he and his family filmed from their homes. True to its title, Some Good News showed us video from all over the world, from Italy to the United States and points in between, which featured much deserved praise for healthcare workers battling the spread of coronavirus.
John Krasinski Creates Some Good News & Interviews Steve Carell
If you’re looking for something funny and heartwarming (and frankly, who isn’t right now?), John Krasinski has got you covered. The writer/director of A Quiet Place (parts I and II) and, of course, a former member of The Office‘s phenomenal ensemble cast, has a new YouTube series called Some Good News, which delivers exactly what its title promises. The first episode, now streaming,
Post-Production Crews Pivot To Homework To Keep The Lights On
Anybody walking down West 45th Street in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood on a recent Tuesday might not have noticed them. In the narrow parking lot of the eight-story building marked 432, men loaded equipment cases into waiting vehicles. Two of those enclosures contained Sony BVM-X300s, top-of-the-line professional monitors that colorists use to finish tv shows and films for broadcast. Each can easily cost $30,000.
This wasn’t the scene of a brazen heist in broad daylight;
Contagion Star Kate Winslet Wants You to Help Stop the Spread of COVID-19
Studios, stars, and now the cast of one of the best films ever made about a pandemic have come together to deliver PSAs about the spread of COVID-19. Steven Soderbergh’s 2011 film Contagion is a deeply chilling thriller, and also a realistic glimpse at how healthcare professionals, government officials, and regular people try to deal with a global pandemic. Writer Scott Z. Burns researched the film by going to the CDC and learning first-hand how they handle pandemics,
Go Inside Warworld, Westworld’s New WWII-Themed Park
It feels like several years ago when we interviewed Westworld cinematographer and director Paul Cameron about the series’ ambitious third season (it was actually only 11 days ago). Since then, the world has gotten significantly scarier thanks to the spread of COVID-19, which makes Westworld‘s third season, fully wrapped long before the pandemic hit, extra comforting right now. That is, as comforting as HBO’s wildly ambitious,
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness Continues Remote Pre-Production
The entertainment industry has seen productions freeze as COVID-19 has spread across the globe. Some of the biggest productions going at the moment, from Warner Bros. The Batman and The Matrix 4 to Paramount’s Mission: Impossible 7 to Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings have shut down. As of now, with the situation around the world so fluid, there is no expectation that productions can start up again until at least mid-May,
All The Recent Releases You Can Watch Now
We’ve been covering the effects that COVID-19 has had on the entertainment industry. These stories have included news about production shutdowns to delayed premieres, from interviews with filmmakers on current and stalled projects to how the industry is helping citizens and the healthcare industry alike.
Another novel scenario that the global pandemic has created, another one on the positive end of the spectrum, is that studios are making their recent releases available on digital platforms early.
Star Trek: Picard Director Hanelle Culpepper Makes History (And a Home in Space)
With news of rising numbers of COVID-19 infections and the economic fallout the disease destined to come with it, everyone is looking for watch lists for some quality home entertainment. Highly recommended by critics and viewers alike is CBS All Access’s Star Trek: Picard, which has been the most-watched original series to date for the streaming service. The first three episodes of the series were helmed by director Hanelle Culpepper,
Watch the Trailer for Solar Opposites From Rick and Morty Co-Creator
We could all use a laugh in these dire times, and there have been few shows on TV that so reliably elicit actual LOLs than Rick and Morty. So, the news that Rick and Morty co-creator Justin Roiland and writer Mike McMahan have a new animated series coming to Hulu is manna from outer space. Behold the first teaser for Solar Opposites, Roiland and McMahan’s alien comedy.
The Walking Dead & Better Call Saul Director Bronwen Hughes Talks Drama, Real & Imagined
“For the two months leading up to this moment, I was writing. I was already leading an isolation style life,” says writer/director Bronwen Hughes. Her usually intense TV directing schedule had this lull so she could complete a screenplay for a feature (a spy thriller she’s sending off to a major studio, she’d say no more), and then the world changed.
“Well, every physical shoot I’ve had or have, booked or about to book,
