How the Confined Spaces in “Greyhound” Added Authentic Intensity
In Greyhound, Tom Hanks is a naval captain of a US destroyer that spends three days in the North Atlantic trying to protect a fleet of merchant vessels from a pack of preying U-boats. The script, written by Hanks, is a fictional account that draws inspiration from C.S. Forester’s book “The Good Sheperd” and unravels like a game of chess with life and death consequences.
Directed by Aaron Schneider and lensed by cinematographer Shelly Johnson,...
5 Outrageous Hays Code Rules Ryan Murphy’s “Hollywood” Breaks
Ryan Murphy’s Hollywood on Netflix is a dreamy, inspiring, and triumphant glimpse at what mainstream storytelling might have accomplished if female, Black, and queer artists had been openly driving the narrative on our screens since the 1940s.
Like many of the actors in Hollywood, Dylan McDermott plays a character within a character. McDermott’s Ernie West dallies on the fringes of the entertainment scene but is never able to break into the industry until his former employees ascend the movie studio ladder and collaborate on the most groundbreaking script to hit Tinseltown...
Netflix’s “Project Power” Trailer Starring Jamie Foxx & Joseph Gordon-Levitt is Scorching
Last Friday, Netflix released director Gina Prince-Bythewood‘s critically acclaimed new film The Old Guard, about a team of immortal beings trying their level best to keep humanity from destroying itself. Good luck with that. (The film is awesome). Now, the streaming giant has revealed the first trailer for Project Power, a different kind of superhero story, starring Jamie Foxx, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Dominique Fishback in a film from directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman...
“Tenet” Runtime Revealed
Christopher Nolan‘s movies have always been robust. His last theatrical release, the brilliant World War II drama Dunkirk, was a very brisk 1 hour and 46 minutes long. Yet before that nearly wordless masterpiece, Nolan released his cosmic epic Interstellar in 2014 at a whopping 2 hours and 49 minutes. Before that, it was his trilogy capping The Dark Knight Rises in 2012, coming in at a fulsome 2 hours and 44 minutes...
“Palm Springs” Breaks Hulu’s Record For Biggest Opening Weekend
A little less than a month ago we shared the trailer for Palm Springs, the Sundance darling from director Max Barbakow, starring Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti. Their romantic comedy broke a Sundance sales record when it sold to Hulu and Neon for $17.5 million this past January. It looks as if the investment was worth it; Hulu confirmed to IndieWire that Palm Springs broke the streaming platform’s record for opening weekend views...
The Uncut Version of Hitchcock’s “Psycho” Coming to U.S. for First Time
Perhaps now isn’t exactly the right time to spend hours with Alfred Hitchcock, considering our reality has enough tension, anxiety, and dread? Or, maybe you’re one of those people who actually find solace in scary movies, which offer a chance to safely experience tension, anxiety, and dread within the comfort of your own sanitized home and in two dimensions? If you’re in the latter category, Universal Home Entertainment has some good news for you in the form of a brand new box set—The Alfred Hitchcock Classics Collection—which offers viewers in the United States their first-ever chance to see Hitchcock’s uncut version of Psycho...
Naya Rivera: Former Co-Stars and More Pay Tribute
By now you’ve heard the tragic news that Glee star Naya Rivera died at the age of 33. She was boating with her 4-year-old son on Lake Piru in Southern California. It’s devastating news.
As a Grammy-nominated singer and actor, Rivera was best known for playing cheerleader Santana Lopez on Glee. Rivera recently starred in the TV adaptation of Step Up, which had recently moved to Starz for its second season...
“Star Wars: The Bad Batch” Animated Series to Debut on Disney+
Breaking news about upcoming shows and first-look deals involving streaming services seems to be moving at a breakneck pace, doesn’t it? The latest comes courtesy of Disney+, which has ordered the Lucasfilm animated series Star Wars: The Bad Batch. The series is slated to premiere in 2021 and expands the streaming service’s Star Wars-related projects.
One of the most prolific folks working in the Star Wars world, ...
Idris Elba Signs First-Look Deal With Apple
Apple has added one of Hollywood’s biggest stars to its growing roster of boldfaced names. Idris Elba and his Green Door Pictures have signed a first-look deal with Apple TV+ to develop and produce a variety of projects for the streaming service. Elba started Green Door Pictures back in 2013 in order to develop projects with a diverse cast of talent in front of and behind the camera. Elba has starred in Green Door Pictures projects, including In the Long Run (which aired on Sky One in Europe and Starz in the U.S.) and Netflix’s Turn Up Charlie. ...
“Star Trek: Lower Decks” Trailer Reveals Interstellar Animated Comedy
Well, this looks delightfully silly. CBS All Access revealed the first trailer for Star Trek: Lower Decks, a new animated series that tweaks the formula of the legendary franchise in more ways than one. Lower Decks is focused on the support crew of one of Starfleet’s least important ships, the U.S.S. Cerritos. Your main characters are whatever the opposite of Vulcan would be (William Shatner?).
It’s the year 2038, and the support crew on the U.S.S...
The Directors of “Mucho Mucho Amor” Give Latino Legend Walter Mercado his Due
Described as equal parts Liberace, Norma Desmond, and Oprah, the wildly popular, gender-bending Puerto Rican TV astrologer Walter Mercado was so larger than life that only a documentary could do him justice. The filmmakers behind Netflix’s Mucho Mucho Amor: The Legend of Walter Mercado, like millions of Latinx viewers around the globe, grew up watching Mercado deliver daily horoscopes on TV. Wearing his trademark bejeweled capes, Mercado’s flamboyance coupled with upbeat astrological predictions helped make him a beloved cultural icon...
Cinematographer Armando Salas on the Seductive Aesthetics of “Ozark”
The third season of Netflix’s Ozark sees Marty and Wendy Byrde (Jason Bateman and Laura Linney) dig into their life in Mississippi, where they now own one casino, and a sticking point in their marriage is the risk associated with acquiring another. With the Byrdes still laundering money for Omar Navarro (Felix Solis), the head of a Mexican cartel, and working alongside bloodthirsty lawyer Helen Pierce (Janet McTeer), the series’ third season retains the cool blue and green tones of earlier episodes but adds new aesthetic dimensions via a deeper look at the Navarro compound and flashbacks to Marty’s youth...
Director Gina Prince-Bythewood on her Netflix Epic The Old Guard
The Old Guard, premiering today on Netflix, is a completely engrossing female-fronted action film that just might blow the doors off your summer. Helmed by director Gina Prince-Bythewood, it also marks the milestone of the first major superhero film directed by a Black woman. Prince-Bythewood, who first made her name as writer/director of the classic Love & Basketball, has become one of the most thoroughly interesting directors working in Hollywood...
The First “Halloween Kills” Teaser Reveals Laurie Strode’s Endless Nightmare
Well, the good news is we’ve got a brand new glimpse of the upcoming Halloween Kills, the next installment in the legendary franchise from co-writer/director David Gordon Green and writers Danny McBride and Scott Teems. The not so good news is we won’t be seeing Halloween Kills this Halloween. Universal has announced that the sequel to Green’s smashing 2018 hit Halloween will be delayed a full year, from October 16 2020 to October 15,...
Javicia Leslie Makes History as the New Batwoman
When we spoke to Batwoman composer Sherri Chung, she expressed excitement over where the CW show would head in the upcoming season. Despite losing the talented Ruby Rose as Kate Kane/Batwoman, Chung was confident in the show’s approach to finding a new lead. “What I think is great is that it sounds like they’re going to treat this as Kate Kane leaving Gotham, and a new character comes in to carry the torch as Batwoman,”...
Filmmaker Courtney Jamison Tells a Winning Story During Quarantine
Filmmaker Courtney Jamison entered a contest set up by Women In Film LA, ReFrame and IMDbPro called CURBSIDE SHORTS Two-Minute Film Challenge. The challenge invited “female and non-binary filmmakers from North America to create and submit for free a short film inspired by life while sheltering in place.” Jamison, originally from Richmond, Virginia, had been sheltering in place in Los Angeles for months. She entered the contest with four friends.
“I saw the announcement on Deadline,...
How “Insecure” Editor Nena Erb Finds the Perfect Moment
“I’m not ready to go to restaurants,” Insecure editor Nena Erb told me while we were on the phone discussing her career, and, of course, life in the midst of a global pandemic. Yet for Erb, whose career has conditioned her to solitude, she’s making the most of her forced isolation by helping bring up the next generation of young editors. “I was able to work at home for about the first month of the pandemic, and I finished up Insecure,...
A Conversation With Laverne Cox
Laverne Cox serves as the guide of director Sam Feder’s crucial new documentary Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen. The film offers a vivid, frankly startling history of the portrayal of transgender lives on screen, and Cox (also an executive producer) captains a compelling cast of influential trans creators, cultural critics, and thinkers. They include The Matrix creator Lilly Wachowski, Pose star Mj Rodriguez, Transparent stars Trace Lysette and Alexandra Billings,...
Colin Kaepernick Signs First Look Deal With Disney
If you were to name the most influential athletes of the last decade, Colin Kaepernick must be on your list. The former San Francisco 49ers quarterback has become one of the most crucial voices in America demanding and working towards social justice. He started this journey in the public eye with a simple gesture and, perhaps more importantly, a sustained commitment thereafter in the face of injustice against himself personally. Colin Kaepernick became a known quantity to NFL fans in 2012,...
Director/Producer Dawn Porter on Capturing a Legend in “John Lewis: Good Trouble”
Director/producer Dawn Porter’s documentary John Lewis: Good Trouble is an inspirational look at the life and career of the legendary Georgia Democratic representative and civil rights activist John Lewis. Congressman Lewis, now 80 years old, has been instrumental in creating foundational change in the United States, from voting rights to equal rights for all Americans. To this day, he continues to be a voice for positive change.
The Credits spoke to Porter about the film,...
