Goodbye 2022: Did Cameron & Cruise Resuscitate Movie Theaters?

Like I always like to do, I’m going to try to sum up the year that was in my final post of the year partially entitled ‘Goodbye’. So, goodbye to 2022. There are a lot of things one could talk about. I like to keep things cheery so the title of the post has been kept to filmmaking and the movie theater industry.

Continue reading “Goodbye 2022: Did Cameron & Cruise Resuscitate Movie Theaters?”

Ten Most Read Articles & Reviews: 2022

As the year is coming to an end, it makes a lot of sense to me to look back on the year that is coming to a close. Although it isn’t yet time for me to announce my 2022 year-end lists and awards winners (they’ll be released in January and February 2023), this is the right time to take a look at the ten most-read articles and reviews that I wrote this year. Let’s have a look at what caught your eye this last year.

Continue reading “Ten Most Read Articles & Reviews: 2022”

First ‘Batgirl’ then ‘scripted content’: Warner Bros. Discovery’s recent decision-making is worrying

Photo: Chris Yarzab / Flickr

In recent days, it was revealed that the Warner Bros. Discovery merger had already had a huge impact on upcoming releases and the extremely popular streaming service HBO Max, arguably the service with the best content library. First, it was revealed that the upcoming Batgirl film, which had finished production, had been canceled. It was no longer to be released in theaters or on HBO Max. Then, we found out that the Scoob! sequel, an animated film due to be released later this year, had also been thrown away entirely.

Continue reading “First ‘Batgirl’ then ‘scripted content’: Warner Bros. Discovery’s recent decision-making is worrying”

Sad News: Bruce Willis to Retire from Acting due to Aphasia diagnosis

Bruce Willis in UNBREAKABLE – PHOTO: Buena Vista Pictures Distribution.

Sad news coming out of Hollywood today, as the Willis family has put out a statement confirming that their patriarch, Bruce Willis, one of the biggest male action stars in Tinseltown for the last thirty-five years has decided to step away from his acting career due to recent health issues and the fact that he has been diagnosed with aphasia.

Continue reading “Sad News: Bruce Willis to Retire from Acting due to Aphasia diagnosis”

The 94th Oscars Ceremony was already problematic before Will Smith struck Chris Rock

A visibly-emotional Will Smith sits down after having slapped Chris Rock on stage at the Dolby Theatre – PHOTO: AMPAS, 2022.

Others may disagree but the Academy Awards ceremony — arguably Hollywood’s biggest night — is never boring to me. Some cinephiles think of it like their Super Bowl, their WrestleMania, but I don’t think anyone expected the ceremony to devolve into a contact sport as it briefly did in the Dolby Theatre at the 94th Academy Awards, when one of Hollywood’s last name-brand movie stars, the almost-always cool Will Smith, lost his temper. It was certainly one of the uglier moments in Oscar history, and it also topped what was previously the craziest moment in Oscar history.

Continue reading “The 94th Oscars Ceremony was already problematic before Will Smith struck Chris Rock”

Goodbye 2021: Vaccinations, Variants, and Streaming

Sometimes once a year comes to an end, I like to close it out with a few thoughts on the year that is about to be behind us. Just last year, I spent a lot of my Goodbye 2020 article on the state of the film and movie theater industries during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it certainly seems like this edition of these New Year’s Eve articles will have to have a similar focus.

Because while I do think it’s possible to see a light at the end of the tunnel since most people are accepting the vaccines, it is also true that the world isn’t completely out of the woods yet (in part due to the various different variants of the contagious disease that has dictated our lives for a very long time now). But what has all of this meant for the aforementioned industries and, more broadly, the ‘movie year’ that was 2021? Well, let’s talk about that.

Continue reading “Goodbye 2021: Vaccinations, Variants, and Streaming”

Another Round is Being Remade with Leonardo DiCaprio. How Should We Feel About That?

On Monday April 26th, 2021, the day after Thomas Vinterberg’s Another Round (Danish Title: Druk) had won the Best International Feature Film Oscar, DEADLINE Hollywood reported that, to the surprise of no one, Hollywood wanted to make another English-language remake of a popular non-American hit. What was surprising, however, was that the English-language remake rights had been acquired by Appian Way, Endeavor Content, and Makeready for the purpose of developing a remake as a star vehicle for Leonardo DiCaprio, arguably the biggest movie star on the planet. So, how should we feel about that? Is it an exciting pat on the back, or should we be upset?

Continue reading “Another Round is Being Remade with Leonardo DiCaprio. How Should We Feel About That?”

A Celebration or a Clusterfuck? My Thoughts on the 93rd Academy Awards

In honor of Thomas Vinterberg’s extremely moving acceptance speech last night, allow me to open with a reference to arguably his most famous film. There is a moment in Thomas Vinterberg’s Cannes Awards-winning Dogme-film Festen (international title: The Celebration), where the main character Christian (played by Ulrich Thomsen) asks his father, whose birthday is being celebrated, what speech he would like Christian to read for him — the green speech or the yellow speech? His father chooses the ‘green’ speech, and, as a result, the events of the unforgettable film take place. Sometimes a single decision can change everything. And, in the case of the 93rd Academy Awards’ ceremony, a decision was made that ultimately destroyed an otherwise decent ceremony.

Continue reading “A Celebration or a Clusterfuck? My Thoughts on the 93rd Academy Awards”

A Good Day to Be a Danish Actor: Mads Mikkelsen & Pilou Asbæk Join Major Franchises

Mads Mikkelsen has landed his next big role in a major Hollywood franchise!

April 15th, 2021 was a good day to be a Danish actor. At least, it sure seemed that way. On this day, Deadline Hollywood revealed two ‘exclusive’ casting news articles. Now, why is that significant? It’s simple really. Two very popular Danish actors are joining two major Hollywood franchises in highly anticipated sequels, and, again, for some unknown (but somewhat amusing) reason these unrelated casting news articles were released on the very same day.

Continue reading “A Good Day to Be a Danish Actor: Mads Mikkelsen & Pilou Asbæk Join Major Franchises”

Overview: December 2020

Overview provides my readers with a brief overview of the articles or reviews that I have written. In December 2020, among other things, I reviewed Netflix’s The Midnight Sky and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. In general, I tried very hard to review as much as I could before the end of the year, but I actually still have some reviews that I need to finish.

Continue reading “Overview: December 2020”