Charles Bramesco
Robert Redford’s Getting Out of the Acting Game After Two More Roles
You gotta respect Robert Redford’s style. He’s not one of those interminable wafflers like Quentin Tarantino or Michael Jordan, constantly announcing and then un-announcing retirement every few years to shore up relevancy when necessary. Robert Redford says he’s gonna do a job, he does the job. He says he’s gonna finish up the two acting gigs he’s already taken and then shift to full-time direction, you can be sure he’s not gonna pop up in a couple years with a “gotcha!” and news of a new role.
The New Willy Wonka Prequel Movie Might Be an Origin Story
We were all so busy scrambling to avert one apocalypse today, we didn’t even see another one rearing its head in the distance. SlashFilm recently spoke to power-producer David Heyman at the junket for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and questioned the Hollywood player about the plans for Warner Bros.’ impending Willy Wonka film. Without making any concrete announcements about what to expect from the early-in-development project, Heyman did drop one rather ominous prophecy when asked whether the script would be a remake of the popular Gene Wilder-starring film or the Tim Burton-directed version.
Smithsonian Mounts $300,000 Campaign to Preserve Dorothy’s Ruby Slippers
A step above the sought-after Maltese Falcon and the fabled Ark of the Covenant, Dorothy Gale’s ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz have to be the single most vital prop in cinematic history. The red-sequined shoes, so lusted after by the Wicked Witch of the West in the immortal 1939 fantasy film, have spent the last 30 years as one of the Smithsonian's most popular attractions. But not even magical footwear is immune to the ravages of time, and Judy Garland’s old kicks have lost a bit of their luster. As The Hollywood Reporter notes, the iconic slippers have faded from their original Technicolor ruby to something closer to “a dull auburn.”
Will Ferrell to Return to the North Pole For His Next Comedy
Get a few drinks in a group of guy-pals, and antics inevitably arise: doing donuts in an abandoned parking lot, maybe hitting a strip club, the odd snowmobile expedition to the North Pole — you know, guy stuff. That last one actually happened to a group of foolhardy drinking buddies in 1968 Minnesota, too, and now Deadline reports that Will Ferrell and Sony have set about recreating the epic journ
Netflix Joins Pushback Against Anti-LGBT Legislation in Georgia
Up until very recently, Georgia was a haven for film productions, the rolling amber waves of generous tax breaks beckoning to crews from Hollywood to New York. That all changed when the Georgia state legislature moved to pass a new bill that harshly restricts the rights of LGBT individuals under the guise of religious freedom. The Free Exercise Protection Act grants any religious official the option to refuse to officiate a non-hetero couple’s wedding, and permits any employer to discriminate in hiring and service practices on the basis of sexual orientation, all under the rationale that being forced to interact with queer men and women in any capacity would violate their religious freedom. Such giants of the entertainment industry as Disney/Marvel, Warner Bros., AMC, Viacom and Sony have all urged a veto to the bill, with the threat of withdrawing all operations from Georgia looming over the legislators.
Kevin James to Suit Up for Inspirational Football Movie ‘44’
A firm believer that it’s never too late to teach an old dog some new tricks, a 44-year-old Tennessee man named Joey Williams returned to college in 2003 to complete the degree he never finished. While enrolled at Jackson, Tennessee’s own Lambuth University, he decided to get the full collegiate experience by joining the football team as a lineman and playing alongside the young bucks — one of whom, in a stranger-than-fiction twist, just so happened to be Williams’ son. Fulfilling a lifelong dream of playing college ball that was once stymied by a busted knee in his senior year of high school, Williams provided NPR with an inspirational human-interest story for their segment “A Lineman At 44.”
Alfonso Cuaron Would Like to Direct a Chinese Film
Alfonso Cuarón has taken note of the tides shifting in China’s direction, and he made that much clear with a surprising statement backstage at the inaugural China-U.S. Motion Picture Summit last night. The Hollywood Reporter quotes the Academy Award-winning director of such films as Gravity, Children of Men, and Y Tu Mama Tambien as expressing a desire to shoot a film in Chinese.
Sally Hawkins Heats Up Guillermo del Toro’s Cold War Movie with Leading Role
Guillermo del Toro has no shortage of professional projects in the air at any given time; between his planned Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark film, a program for Netflix called Trollhunters, and having to constantly dispel the rumors that he’ll return to direct a sequel for Pacific Rim or the Hellboy franchise, he keeps plenty busy. But that hasn’t stopped del Toro from continuing to pursue new creative avenues in his career, apparently exempt from our human need to take a second-long breather once in a while. The latest directorial challenge that del Toro has met head-on is a thriller set during the Cold War, and now he’s found himself an actress ready to take the plunge into the Red Scare with him.
Paramount Sues Fan-Made ‘Star Trek’ Film Over Copyrights on Ears, Klingon Language
The tough thing about using someone else’s ideas to make money is that it’s not entirely legal. This lesson had to be learned the hard way this past weekend by Alec Peters, producer of an independent film titled Prelude to Axanar. The Star Trek fan film drew quite a bit of ire from copyright holders Paramount after a crowdfunding effort on Indiegogo brought this grassroots DIY production over half a million dollars last summer. The promise to make a “studio-quality” film including characters, settings, and other elements from the heavily-licensed Star Trek franchise with no engagement from the relevant studio spelled doom for the Axanar team, and now the chickens have come home to roost.
In-Home Screening Room Draws Support From Major Filmmakers
Last week, we took note of a new business venture called Screening Room spearheaded by Napster founder Sean Parker. The proposed service would digitally stream the latest major-studio theatrical releases into the confines of private American homes for a hefty estimated fee of $50 on the same day as in-theater premieres, rendering a trip to the local cineplex less necessary than ever. Naturally, this radical new strategy would change the entire face of the industry, and has accordingly raised hackles on the production, distribution, and exhibition sides of Hollywood. As movie theaters struggle to stay relevant and profitable, Parker’s every press conference sounds like a death knell. And this weekend, both sides of this instantly contentious debate dug in their heels on their positions.
Ken Adam, Production Designer Behind Bond and ‘Dr. Strangelove,’ Dies at 95
Sir Kenneth Adam, the celebrated production designer responsible for the iconic sets from the James Bond franchise, Dr. Strangelove, and a host of other fine films, has died. He passed away last night in his London home following a brief stay in the hospital. He was 95 year old.
New Trailer for ‘Ice Age: Collision Course’ Goes to Space Because Shut Up, That’s Why
Historically, the addition of space travel into the mix has never failed to revitalize a flagging franchise. Take Clive Barker’s series of Hellraiser films, for instance: four films in, and the engine was losing steam. So for Bloodline, the film split into a triptych across centuries, the frame story for it all taking place on a spacecraft orbiting Earth. Demonic tormentor Pinhead killing people on Earth — not very scary, but Pinhead killing people in space — I’ll take two tickets, please. So, in this respect, Ice Age: Collision Course is without a doubt the Hellraiser: Bloodline of the Ice Age franchise.
Spike Jonze Directed a New Short Film With Stephen Colbert and a Very Special Guest
The fun aspect of late-night programming is the elasticity of the form; it’s flexible enough that really anything can happen, from a Donald Trump musical to a new short film from one of American cinema’s least predictable voices. Late Show host Stephen Colbert has a heavy rolodex, and he’s got the creative freedom to bring his friends along for whatever little projects they might feel like doing..
Tom McCarthy to Follow Oscar Nominee ‘Spotlight’ with Netflix Series
Spotlight director Tom McCarthy has something of a spotty record. While balancing a robust career as an actor, McCarthy got started directing such fine dramas as The Station Agent and The Visitor, and earned his first Oscar nomination for co-writing the script for Up. His 2011 feature Win Win was solid, and Spotlight currently has six Academy Award nominations pending (including a Best Director citation for McCarthy himself), and yet there remains a stain on his filmography. McCarthy also helmed 2015’s The Cobbler, a ridiculous, risible Adam Sandler vehicle that felt like a deranged parody of a formulaic studio comedy. If the director was capable of putting his name on that radioactive pile of waste, then nothing’s beyond his reach, awards-season prestige be damned.
Two Original Song Performances Cut From Oscars Broadcast
In a Variety exclusive late on Friday, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences announced that they had dumped two of the five scheduled performances of the Best Original Song nominees from this Sunday’s upcoming telecast. Ordinarily, the news that the notoriously lengthy Oscar ceremony would be shortened in any way at all would be cause for celebration, but the particulars of this decision should give readers pause. It’s true that the song performances can be the most time-consuming parts of the show, and though they’re definitely the least necessary, it’s some real bull-tonky that the show would appear only to cut the performances without adequate star-power behind them.
Amazon Will Release Woody Allen’s Next Movie
Amazon is going all in on the Woody Allen business. The streaming-video giant has made some decisive moves in their quest to supplant Netflix as the dominant player in this increasingly crowded marketplace, one of which was landing Woody Allen for an original TV series back in January 2015. Last time he checked in about it, Allen wasn’t doing so hot with the TV format — he told Deadline that he “regretted every second since I said okay” to helming the six-episode series for Amazon — but he evidently enjoyed working with the studio, because Amazon has now announced that they will release Allen’s untitled next film.