The Gentlemen’s Costume Designer Breaks Down the Felonious Finery
Early in his career, British director Guy Ritchie specialized in making good movies about bad guys. Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch and RocknRolla told stories about pugnacious criminals plying their trades in and around London’s working-class demimonde. His latest romp The Gentlemen (now in theaters) marks a return to form with its cast of alpha males Matthew McConaughey, Hugh Grant, Colin Farrell and Charlie Hunnam augmented by the presence of elegant Downton Abbey star Michelle Dockery.
Production Designer Arwel Jones on Designing a New Dracula
Consistent with Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel, Netflix’s new three-episode Dracula series begins with a hapless English solicitor, Jonathan Harker (John Heffernan), ignoring the Transylvanian locals’ misgivings to make his way on a snowy evening to Count Dracula’s forbidding castle. In the original novel, Harker is initially impressed with his host’s social graces before realizing he’s a prisoner, but 2020’s Dracula (Claes Bang) is ratty haired and grim, intent on getting the social skills he’ll need for England from his guest.
How Oscar-Nominated Songwriter Joshuah Brian Campbell Helped Harriet Find its Voice
One of the more inspirational moments of Harriet, the stirring 2019 feature about Harriet Tubman, the legendary 19th-century slave turned abolitionist, happens when Cynthia Erivo sings Stand Up, an uplifting anthem to human dignity and the struggle to be free.
Erivo has deservedly received an Oscar nomination for her performance as Harriet Tubman. But she also landed a second nomination for Best Original Song as the co-writer of Stand Up.
Inside the National Association of Latino Independent Producers Events at Sundance
As part of their mission to discover, promote, and inspire Latinx content creators and diverse voices across media platforms, the National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP) hosted a series of events during Sundance 2020.
One of the most compelling panels was called ‘Inclusion in Action’, sponsored by Coca-Cola, Skullcandy, and Latino Reel. NALIP is also an MPA multicultural creative partner. The panel began with a mixer including industry leaders.
No Time to Die Super Bowl Spot Promises Everything is About to Change
With No Time to Die representing Daniel Craig’s final turn as her Majesty’s most resilient (and lethal) super spy, it doesn’t feel like hyperbole when the studio claims that the film will change everything. In a deliciously action-packed Super Bowl spot, we’re not only promised that the 25th installment in the venerable franchise would change everything forever, but that there’s a secret that will be the death of Bond should it ever get out.
The Black Widow Super Bowl Spot is Pure Adrenalin
Marvel released a brand new Black Widow spot at the Super Bowl, the perfect high-octane mega-event to tease this upcoming high-octane mega-event. The spot gave us some fresh footage from the first stand-alone feature for Scarlett Johansson’s iconic super-assassin. “At some point, we all have to choose,” Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff says, “between who the world wants you to be, and who you are.”
The 30-second spot is nonstop action,
Disney+ Reveals WandaVision, Loki, & Falcon and the Winter Soldier in Super Bowl Spot
The Super Bowl is always a rich fount for brand new trailers and big reveals for upcoming films and television series. When you have that many eyeballs glued to the same channel for three-plus hours, there’s simply no better opportunity for a studio to fire viewers up. In last night’s deeply satisfying clash between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers, Disney+ revealed three of their highly anticipated upcoming Marvel series.
A Quiet Place: Part II’s Super Bowl Ad Packs a Big Surprise
For those of us who are more than a little bit excited for writer/director John Krasinski‘s A Quiet Place: Part II, Paramount Pictures has done us a solid. The studio has released its upcoming Super Bowl spot early, giving us a glimpse at Krasinski’s follow-up to his surprising creature-feature smash hit from 2018. Krasinski co-starred in the original film alongside his real-life wife, Emily Blunt, as Lee and Evelyn Abbott respectively,
The First Trailer for HBO’s The Plot Against America Reveals David Simon’s Gripping Roth Adaptation
When word spread that The Wire mastermind David Simon would be adapting legendary novelist Philip Roth’s brilliant dystopian book “The Plot Against America” for HBO (along with executive producer Ed Burns, another The Wire alum), we were enthused. Now that the first trailer for the upcoming series has dropped, it’s safe to say the limited series is on our must-see list.
The story is set in a World War II-era America that looks very much like our past on the surface.
How The Irishman’s Oscar-Nominated Production Designer Crafted Scorsese’s Mob Epic
Central to Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman is retired hitman Frank Sheeran’s (Robert De Niro) fifty-year oral history of his time with the mob, culminating in his murder of Teamster boss Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino). The three-and-a-half-hour epic spans from 1949 to 2000, with most of the 295 different sets and locations made up to look like Philadelphia and environs between the 1950s and the 1970s. Designing the look of the film was a huge undertaking for the art department—“you’re reading the script and you’re thinking,
The Early Reactions to Birds of Prey Hail the Glorious Mayhem of Harley Quinn’s World
The first reactions to Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) are pouring in, and we’re happy to report that folks seem as delighted as Harley herself often does. Director Cathy Yan and her star and producer Margot Robbie had a distinct vision for what Birds of Prey was going to be. Everything we’ve seen up until now, especially the last trailer,
Enlightening Panels Highlight the Launch of The Latinx House at Sundance
One of the most successful, well-received experiences at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival was the official launch of The Latinx House. Their mission is to bring artists, organizers, thought leaders, and other supporters together to address issues that impact the Latinx community and create narratives that shift culture. A worthy aim, given the statistics. The Latinx population is the largest ethnic minority in the country, but erasure and misrepresentation onscreen continue to be a problem.
Ambition and Risk Highlight Narcos: Mexico Season 2 Trailer
The last time we left Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo (Diego Luna), commonly referred to as Félix, he had managed to talk his way out of imprisonment and stay atop the Guadalaraja Cartel—the first Mexican drug cartel—using his wits alone. Granted, in order to become Mexico’s leading narco-trafficker, Félix used a lot more than wits. He was ruthless in his rise to power, and inarguably brilliant, but he only escaped prison (or death) by cutting a last-second deal in which he promised to keep the secrets of powerful players in Mexico secret,
Peter Sarsgaard’s Mysterious Role in The Batman Revealed
Yesterday, co-writer and director Matt Reeves revealed the first photo from the set of The Batman, officially announcing the start of production. The film is led by Robert Pattison, who takes over the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman from Ben Affleck (most recently) and Christian Bale (most effectively). Pattinson is surrounded by an incredible cast, including Jeffrey Wright as Commissioner Gordon, Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman, Paul Dano as the Riddler,
Celebrating the Sundance Film Festival’s 6th Annual Horizon Awards
The Sundance Film Festival shows many films, putting independent filmmakers front and center in a way that few other environments can. The audiences, the sponsors, potential collaborators, distributors, and film executives are all interacting and connecting with content creators. It makes sense, then, that young, talented filmmakers could benefit in a myriad of ways from being here, meeting people, and showing their work.
This year at Sundance, a record number of movies by female filmmakers are part of the program.
Fast & Furious 9 Teaser Reveals Dom’s Family Values
We’ve known for a very long time that Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) is big on family. Yet up until Fate of the Furious, that family has mostly been the gearheads he’s surrounded himself with and, of course, his beloved Letty (Michelle Rodriguez). Then Fate introduced us to his son Brian (named after his former friend, played by the late Paul Walker), and now in the first teaser for Fast &
Why Margot Robbie Chose Birds of Prey Over Gotham City Sirens
Earlier today, we published this huge trove of brand new Birds of Prey photos, which gave us a great glimpse at director Cathy Yan’s take on Gotham and the women who will be running the show. Those women include, of course, Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn. Robbie absolutely stole David Ayer’s 2016 antihero ensemble film Suicide Squad, and her turn as the lovable (yet psychopathic) Quinn was the best thing about the movie.
Writer/Director Matt Reeves Shares Set Photo as The Batman Officially Begins Filming
It’s official—The Batman has begun filming and a new era for the Caped Crusader has begun. Writer-director Matt Reeves has shared a photo from set, marking the first day of production for his Batman reboot. As is often the case with set photos released by the director, we’ve got a film slate, revealing the first take of scene 17. Not the most gripping photographic evidence, as it’ll be a while before we see what Robert Pattinson looks like as Batman,
New Birds of Prey Images Highlight Harley Quinn-Led Mayhem
Warner Bros. has released a huge trove of new Birds of Prey photos that’ll go a long way to satiating your Harley Quinn fix. The hotly anticipated upcoming film from director Cathy Yan starring Margot Robbie as Gotham’s greatest girl gone wild, Harley Quinn, is a little less than two weeks away. We’ve been tracking the run-up to the first stand-alone feature for Robbie’s Quinn—she made her debut in David Ayer’s 2016 antihero ensemble flick Suicide Squad—and this time,
Legendary Animator & Oscar-Nominee Glen Keane on his Kobe Bryant Collaboration Dear Basketball
In light of the tragic news of the death of NBA legend Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna Bryant, 13 (the second oldest of Bryant’s four daughters with his wife, Vanessa), and seven other people in a helicopter crash in California, we are re-posting this interview with animator Glen Keane, who worked with Kobe on their film Dear Basketball, which ultimately earned them an Oscar for Best Animated Short Film.
In this second of a two-part interview with veteran Disney animator Glen Keane,
