How the Latest VFX Techniques Immersed the “Masters of the Air” Actors in Battle
Masters of the Air, starring Austin Butler and Barry Keoghan, is the latest celebrated WWII epic from Band of Brothers and The Pacific executive producers Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, and Gary Goetzman. The intense drama inspired by the 100th Bomb Group is the most detailed on-screen depiction of B-17 planes ever. The visual effects teams from DNEG studios, led by VVFX Supervisor Xavier Bernasconi and VFX Producer Abigal Everard were provided with thousands of hours of research materials about the aircrafts and battles they flew from the Production Designer Chris Seagers and his show researcher Jessica Bradbury.
“Baby Reindeer” Cinematographer Krzysztof Trojnar on Lensing Loneliness
Amidst an epidemic of loneliness and isolation, audiences united in crowning Baby Reindeer the breakout hit TV series of the year. Series creator and star Richard Gadd mined his real-life trauma to create Donny Dunn, who yearns for adoration to catastrophic results. The aspiring comedian discovers that meaning well doesn’t always end well. In a time when there’s immense societal pressure for everyone to have rigid, binary opinions on every issue, and mistakes are often condemned while ignoring intention,
“Bad Boys: Ride or Die” Editors on Mixing Comedy, Action, Tender Moments—and Barry White
Will Smith and Martin Lawrence are back as Miami buddy cops Mike and Marcus, respectively, in Bad Boys: Ride or Die, the fourth installation of the franchise and the second directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah. In 2020’s Bad Boys for Life, Mike and Marcus dealt with the murder of their friend and mentor, Captain Conrad Howard (Joe Pantoliano). In Ride or Die, the pair are out to clear his good name.
Ke Huy Quan Talks Drawing from Personal Experience to Play “Loki” Season 2 Standout Ouroboros
Ke Huy Quan was driving when he got a call from Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige two years ago. Having just seen Quan’s (eventually Oscar-winning) turn in the record-breaking A24 epic Everything Everywhere All At Once, Feige — with whom Quan had crossed paths on 2000’s X-Men, working as assistant action choreographer in his first job out of college — offered him the role of the quirky,
“3 Body Problem” Production Designer Deborah Riley on Melding Sci-Fi & Period Perfect History
Netflix’s adaption of the first book in Liu Cixin’s hit Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy, 3 Body Problem, is more than science fiction. Facing a slew of inexplicable suicides, a group of scientists and friends begin to uncover the future arrival of an alien race, the San-Ti, and learn of the Cultural Revolution-era events in China that set this gradual but hostile takeover in motion.
The series is primarily set in contemporary London and the English countryside,
“Shōgun” Editors Aika Miyake and Maria Gonzales on Cutting Mariko’s Heroic Path
The first season of Justin Marks and Rachel Kondo’s masterful Shōgun was an expertly paced slow-burn drama that plunged viewers into 17th-century Japan with a passionate obsession with the rigors and wonders of the period and location. The new Shōgun shifts its center of balance from the swashbuckling but woefully out of his depth British pirate Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis) to his Japanese captors. Blackthorne has washed ashore on a land in the midst of a tectonic power shift,
“House of the Dragon” Renewed for Season 3 Ahead of Season 2 Premiere
House of the Dragons season 2 hasn’t premiered yet—that happens on June 16—but that didn’t stop HBO from topping up the successful Game of Thrones spinoff for another season. Showrunner Ryan Condal and his co-creator, author George R. R. Martin, have no doubt been plotting and planning for a third (and fourth, and fifth?) season already.
The drama centered on the scheming Tagaryen family has been renewed for season 3,
“Inside Out 2” Screenwriter Dave Holstein on Anxiety Taking Center Stage
In Inside Out 2 (in theaters June 14), Riley (voiced by Kensington Tallman) is off to hockey camp in the summer before high school, no longer the little girl we remember from the sensational introduction we got nine years ago in Inside Out. Riley is now a 13-year-old tween in the liminal zone of adolescence, with a host of new emotions presenting themselves for the first time. So when the sirens go off again in the Headquarters of Riley’s brain,
“BRATS” Director Andrew McCarthy on Reuniting With the Iconic Brat Pack
It’s fair to say the youth movie genre in the 1980s was defined by the Brat Pack, the group of young actors who appeared together in such classics as Pretty in Pink, The Breakfast Club, and St. Elmo’s Fire. They are famously familiar: Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, Demi Moore, Molly Ringwald, Ally Sheedy, and Andrew McCarthy, among others. What is less well known is the profound impact that moniker,
How the “Bridgerton” Costume Designers Dialed up the Romantic Fantasy in Season 3
In the Bridgerton universe, imagination is key. One of the reasons the show skyrocketed in popularity since its season one debut is that it’s a romance and a period drama reimagined. It’s a romance set in a royal world with diverse characters, whimsical clothing, and orchestral covers of modern-day pop hits that give the period trappings a modern sensibility.
And what better way to sell a romantic, fantastical world than through the detailed costuming created by Bridgerton costume designers John Glaser,
“Paddington in Peru” Trailer Finds the Beloved Bear on an Amazonian Adventure
The beloved British bear is back on another adventure in Paddington in Peru.
The marmalade-devoted bear is finally back on the scene after a 7-year hiatus since Paddington 2, the third film in the critically acclaimed series. In the new film, directed by Dougal Wilson, Paddington (voiced by Ben Whishaw) heads back to Peru to visit Aunt Lucy (voiced by Imelda Staunton), who is now living at the Home for Retired Bears.
“Knuckles” Composer Tom Howe on Scoring the Speedy Warrior’s Paramount+ Debut
Composer Tom Howe constructed the score for Paramount+’s superpowered new series Knuckles, putting the warrior Knuckles the Echidna from the Sonic the Hedgehog universe at the center of the action.
“He’s like Sonic, but more fun, more attitude, and probably more fun to have a beer with or go out for dinner with,” Howe says of the titular character. Howe also benefited from an added element that made the sound of Knuckles so appealing—the voice of Knuckles himself,
James Gunn Reveals Another New “Superman” Image
Back in early May, we got our first look at David Corenswet as Superman, and now it appears that Superman writer/director James Gunn has revealed an image of the Kent Family farm, where the young Kryptonian is raised.
Gunn is one of the most active and open filmmakers when it comes to sharing images and updates from his films. He’s been keeping up that level of engagement ever since he took over DC Studios with co-chief Peter Safran and began working in earnest on Superman.
Andy Serkis Unveils “The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim” Footage at Annecy
As promised back in mid-May, the first look at The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim was unveiled at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival on Tuesday by none other than Andy Serkis. Serkis, of course, was one of the stars of Peter Jackson’s original Lord of the Rings trilogy, and his time playing Gollum has not come to an end (more on that later).
“Shakespeare but with football”: Director Matthew Hamachek Unpacks “The Dynasty: New England Patriots”
Director and executive producer Matthew Hamachek calls The Dynasty, the 10-part docu-series now streaming on Apple TV+, “Shakespeare but with football.”
He’s not overstating it. As Dynasty charts the rise and fall of the six-time Super Bowl champion New England Patriots over the course of 20 years, dazzling on-field highlights are deftly layered with the documentary’s themes of male ego, betrayal, the price of success, and the corporatization of sports at the expense of players.
“The Wild Robot” Starring Lupita Nyong’o & Pedro Pascal Reveals Stunning Footage at Annecy
DreamWorks Animation and Universal Pictures unveiled the first footage of writer/director Chris Sanders’ The Wild Robot on Tuesday at the Annecy Animation Festival, drawing laughter and tears from the festivalgoers.
The upcoming animated film stars Lupita Nyong’o, Pedro Pascal, and Kit Connor and was adapted by the three-time Oscar nominee Sanders from Peter Brown’s novel. Sanders and his Wild Robot team are still working on the film, which is set to hit theaters on September 20.
First “Knives Out 3” Image Finds Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc With Long Locks
Knives Out 3 has officially begun filming.
To be accurate, the third installment in Rian Johnson’s whodunit franchise is actually called Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, and Johnson took to X to share the first image from the set—Daniel Craig’s delightfully dandified sleuth Benoit Blanc is now sporting some long locks. Craig’s Blanc is, as always, dressed to the nines, wearing a three-piece suit and holding a hat.
Giving the “Abbott Elementary” Teachers a Glow Up With the Hair & Makeup Maestros Moira Frazier and Constance Foe
As summer shimmers just ahead and another school year wraps up, we take time now to reflect on the fire looks our teachers were serving. The educators at Abbott Elementary gave it their all through two semesters of change. As they navigated celebrations and setbacks, this season was filled with transformations guided by Hair Department Head Moira Frazier and Makeup Department Head Constance Foe.
Janine Teagues’ (Quinta Brunson) relentless optimism and dedication to her students saw a major payoff when her big ideas caught the attention of the school district.
“Bad Boys: Ride or Die” DP Robrecht Heyvaert on Creating the Ride of a Lifetime
In the fourth time around for Will Smith and Martin Lawrence’s wise-cracking Miami detectives, Bad Boys: Ride or Die, now in theaters, earns its summer popcorn movie bonafides with loads of goofy banter and antic action sequences. Helmed by Belgian-Moroccan directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah. Ride or Die follows Mike Lowery [Smith] and Marcus Lawrence [Lawrence] as they do battle with a sadistic criminal mastermind named McGrath (Eric Dane) and corrupt cops.
Richard Linklater on the Killer Chemistry in his Romantic Comedy “Hit Man”
In Richard Linklater‘s latest film, an irresistibly sexy romantic comedy that’s also a bit of a noir, a giddy satire on the hitman genre, and a screwball quasi-whodunit, the one constant is a vibe that is decidedly and effusively all Linklater. Glen Powell, a rising star who has been Linklater’s longtime collaborator through a string of roles dating back to 2006’s Fast Food Nation, plays Gary Johnson, a professor of psychology and philosophy at the University of New Orleans who is as passionate about Nietzsche as he is dispassionate about the affairs of his own life.
