How Welcome to Marwen‘s VFX Supervisor Transformed Steve Carrell into a Plastic Action Figure
Kevin Baillie was barbecuing in the backyard of his San Francisco home one afternoon in 2013 when he got a call from Robert Zemeckis. “Bob said ‘I’ve got this crazy script I want to send you so you can tell me what you think,” Baillie recalls. Five years and 64 million computer-processing hours later, Baillie completed his contributions to the mind-warping movie that is indeed, pretty crazy even by Hollywood spectacle standards. The challenge put forth in Zemeckis’
Jordan Peele’s Us Will Reportedly Be a Monster Mythology
Details about Jordan Peele’s next horror film are slim, but he’s already serving a serious mood. We got chills from the first poster and don’t even really know why yet. If the image is any indicator, Us is going to do to scissors what Get Out did to teacups. Take a mundane object and terrify us with it. The project is still shrouded in mystery, but Entertainment Weekly is starting to unravel the secrets with amazing new images from the film.
Tessa Thompson & Chris Hemsworth Suit up in First Men in Black: International Trailer
“We are a rumor, recognizable only as deja-vus and dismissed just as quickly.” These words come from Agent O (Emma Thompson reprising her role from Men in Black 3) as she preps the newest member of the Men in Black, Agent M (Tessa Thompson) in the film’s first trailer. Agent M is sent to London (hence the “International” in the reboot’s title) where she’s teamed up with Agent H (Chris Hemsworth) for an assignment that takes on global importance.
How James Baldwin Inspired If Beale Street Could Talk Costume Designer Caroline Eselin-Schaefer
In the beginning was the word, as set down by James Baldwin in his 1974 novel “If Beale Street Could Talk.” The movie adaptation from Moonlight auteur Barry Jenkins and his team drew on Baldwin’s text when it came to visualizing this story for the big screen. Costume designer Caroline Eselin-Schaefer says, “James Baldwin gave us so many cues, we wanted to honor him as much as we could.” The story follows pregnant 19-year old Harlem native Tish Rivers (Kiki Layne),
Hellboy is (Literally) On Fire in the First Trailer
Holy horns of flames. The Hellboy trailer is not messing around. It’s here, it’s sarcastic, and it’s totally out of control.
There is a ton packed in here as the trailer tries to exponentially outdo itself over the span of two minutes. Things start out solemn with an organized SWAT mission, but quickly take a turn toward the insane. The setup here is an amusing one as Hellboy is initiated into a team led by Professor Bruttenholm (Ian McShane) that “fights against the forces of darkness.” The irony here is that a lot of those beasts bear more resemblance to Hellboy than humans,
Agrabah Comes Alive in First Images from Aladdin
The new Disney live-action adaptations are a visual treat that draws us into worlds of imagination. Things that we dreamed about as children through hand-drawn animation are now coming alive before our eyes. One of the most magical and ambitious to adapt is the 1992 masterpiece Aladdin. Agrabah may not exist, but the first look at the enchanted kingdom from Entertainment Weekly reveals it is as rich in beauty and mystery as ever.
New Hellboy Image Assembles the BPRD
With the Hellboy trailer dropping on Thursday, Lionsgate has started to ramp up their promotion of Neil Marshall’s film, starring Stranger Things‘ David Harbour in the title role. Yesterday they revealed the new, horns-heavy poster, and now a new photo courtesy of Entertainment Weekly includes a fresh image and some plot points from Harbour. The new shot shows Hellboy surrounded by a fellow member of the BPRD (Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense),
Mary Poppins Returns‘ VFX Supervisor on Bad Weather, Mary’s Magical Entrance & More
English weather wreaked havoc on best-laid plans when it came to staging outdoor sequences for Mary Poppins Returns. Director Rob Marshall expected London’s usual overcast skies to accompany Mary Poppins’ descent from the heavens early in the movie. Instead, Mother Nature delivered a perfect sunny day. The UK-based visual effects supervisor Matt Johnson recalls, “It’s supposed to be all wind and clouds but suddenly London had a massive heat wave and we got a clear blue sky.”
Lady and the Tramp Will Reportedly Feature Actual Dog Actors
Disney’s live-action kick has delivered some gorgeous films. Cinderella is a confectionary concoction of gorgeous scenery and cream puff pastels. Beauty and the Beast is a bit more brooding but just as striking as the Oscar-nominated original. Among the most mesmerizing, however, is The Jungle Book that is arguably an advanced animation, but the visuals were an unexpected joy. Mowgli was played by a live actor (Neel Sethi), but the rest of the animals were CGI.
Elijah Seems to Mastermind a Meeting of Super-humans in New Glass Trailer
It is difficult to recruit fresh blood in your quest for world domination from inside the confines of a mental institution. That is unless you have superhuman abilities of mental manipulation. Then, your followers will come to you. At least, that is the case for Elijah Price who will finally come face to face with The Beast in Glass.
A new trailer for the culmination of M. Night Shyamalan’s stellar superhero trilogy reveals a little bit more about how Kevin Wendell Crumb (James McAvoy),
Todd Phillips Shares a Final Photo From Joker as Filming Wraps
It’s official—Todd Phillips Joker has wrapped production. The very intriguing stand-alone film starring Joaquin Phoenix as Gotham’s most iconic villain began filming three months ago, and throughout the process, Phillips has shared a few choice photos from set. We got a glimpse of Phoenix in a full clown suit, and Zazie Beetz in her largely unknown role, and the very first image which showed Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck.
Watch Pixar’s Oscar-Shortlisted Bao in its Entirety
Bao director Domee Shi is the first woman to direct a Pixar short, and now you can see her phenomenal, Oscar-shortlisted work in its entirety. Pixar has released the short online (it will be available for one week only), which hits the legendary animation studio’s sweet spot—adorable, bittersweet, offbeat, complex—while also introducing a serious talent in Shi. Many called it the best Pixar short in years.
Shi, who also worked as a storyboard artist for this year’s Incredibles 2 and the upcoming Toy Story 4,
Why James Wan Chose Aquaman over The Flash
As we near Aquaman‘s premiere this Friday, December 21, one of the more interesting tidbits to come to light is how director James Wan had his choice between taking on the Atlantean superhero or The Flash. Wan spoke with the New York Times and confirmed during the interview that Warner Bros. had given him his choice between the two very different DC characters:
“Having made The Conjuring,
Horns Aplenty in the New Hellboy Poster
At some point during director Neil Marshall’s Hellboy reboot, we’re likely going to see the moment Hellboy (Stranger Things star David Harbour) has his horns filed down. That’s because on the new poster just released by Lionsgate, our favorite demon with a heart of gold is sporting two very massive horns, yet in the first image from the film, Hellboy’s horns are no more. The logline is catchy,
Gelflings Come Alive Once More in New The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Images
CG technology has brought us a long way for entertainment and opened new worlds and allowed for new kinds of performance in recent years. However, there is a spirit to practical effects that is unmatched. It’s the knowledge that what you’re seeing on screen actually filled real space in the universe. Even though the stories are make-believe, those characters are real objects you can reach out and touch. Jim Henson was an indisputable pioneer of puppetry and one of the masters of fantasy.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Nets a Major Opening Weekend at the Box Office
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse caught a crazy amount of moviegoers in its web this weekend. The animated sensation pulled down $35.4 million in its opening weekend, which is a superhuman feat for a December release. There’s always a crowded market that targets the holiday family crowd. We got a clue from the critics that this was going to be something extra special, but it wasn’t confirmed until now whether fans would agree.
Costume Designer Sandy Powell’s Magic Touch on Mary Poppins Returns
Three-time Oscar-winning costume designer Sandy Powell came to the production of Mary Poppins Returns with fond memories of the 1964 original, which was the first film she ever saw as a child. She was excited to be a part of creating the look of this new incarnation of the beloved nanny, especially the iconic arrival costume. She spoke to The Credits about the challenges and joys of working on one of the most anticipated films of the year.
The Downton Abbey Staff is Preparing the Estate Once More
The sheets are being freshened and the furniture situated as we speak. Next year, Downtown Abbey will be ready to receive guests once more. The stately estate glistens in the first teaser for the upcoming motion picture event.
We know every corner and nook of the home from the saloon to the servants’ quarters and everything appears to be in its proper place. The staff seems prepared for arrivals at any moment in their trademark style.
Singing Camels & Talking Ceramics: Inside Mary Poppins Returns‘ Sound Design
There is a special type of person who could tell you what it sounds like to dance inside of a ceramic bowl. They could also describe what a singing camel sounds like under a big top circus tent. These people would just as readily know the kind of musical rhythm attributed to a bicyclist dashing through the streets of London. Those who are endowed with this ability are the master sound artists crafting the musical fantasy event of the year.
Filmmakers Bring Personal Stakes to Movies About Teen Addicts
Heroin kills and meth destroys, now more than ever. Hollywood has long dramatized the perils of adult drug addiction in films like Frank Sinatra’s The Man With the Golden Arm, Al Pacino’s breakout The Panic in Needle Park, Gus VanSant’s bleak Drug Store Cowboy, and the gonzo Trainspotting. But in the face of a 10 percent uptick in drug-related suicides in America last year according to a recent study,
