Category: Motion Picture Thoughts

My thoughts on current movie news or trends, which aren’t directly related to Star Wars, Marvel or DC Comics.

Casting Ideas | James Gunn’s Superman: Legacy

James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 has been released, Gunn has finished his trilogy, and his time at Marvel is seemingly in the rearview mirror whether we like it or not. Warner Bros. and DC made a good decision to allow him to guide the direction of a shared universe of films based on DC Comics, which was something I advocated for in my review of his excellent The Suicide Squad film. Although his first DC film as a director, Superman Legacy, is still a couple of years away, now is as good a time as any to have a look at what actors would be good fits for the most iconic characters in Clark Kent’s corner of the DC Universe. So, without further ado, let’s have a look at some casting ideas for the upcoming Superman: Legacy film.

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My Thoughts on the Sight & Sound 2022 Film Poll

Delphine Seyrig in Chantal Akerman’s Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles — PHOTO: Janus Films / Akerman, 1975.

Every ten years since 1952, Sight & Sound has polled film professionals (critics and filmmakers alike) on what the greatest films of all time are. In 1992, they split up the filmmakers and critics into separate lists, which has allowed for a great number of films to be celebrated every ten years. The 2022 lists have just been released. Prior to the new lists, only the following films had been placed at number one: Bicycle Thieves, Citizen Kane, Vertigo, and Tokyo Story. Well, for 2022, none of those films landed at no. 1 in either the directors’ or the critics’ polls. Here are my thoughts.

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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” →

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?

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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.

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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” →

Goodbye 2020: Mads Mikkelsen did what Nolan and Warner Bros. failed to do

To say that 2020 was unique for everyone on the globe would be a massive understatement. The year will obviously be remembered for the shocking and world-changing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. I think most people would agree that 2020 was a pretty bad year, all things considered, even though there definitely were good things that happened along the way. But today, on New Year’s Eve, I want to take one last look back on the tumultuous year and, since this is primarily a blog about films and television, how it forever altered the film and movie theater industry Continue reading “Goodbye 2020: Mads Mikkelsen did what Nolan and Warner Bros. failed to do” →

Snyder Cut: Zack Snyder’s Justice League is on its way to HBO MAX – Special Features #70

During a watch-along of his film Man of Steel, today — May 20th, 2020 — director Zack Snyder, alongside his wife and creative partner Deborah Snyder, announced that, in 2021, Warner Bros. will, finally, ‘release the Snyder cut’ of Justice League (2017) on HBO MAX. DC Comics’ vocal fan base has been heard. In this week’s edition of Special Features, I will answer some questions about this piece of news, and I will tell you exactly how I feel about Warner Bros.’ decision. Let’s get to it. Continue reading “Snyder Cut: Zack Snyder’s Justice League is on its way to HBO MAX – Special Features #70” →

93rd Oscars: New Eligibility Requirements and a ‘New’ Category – Special Features #69

The coronavirus pandemic has had a serious impact on the film industry. Universal has pulled several films from their theatrical release schedule and made them available on-demand, and, allegedly, they have found a lot of success with the VOD release of Trolls World Tour. Meanwhile, we still don’t know when theaters all over the world will reopen. It could take several weeks, but it could also take several months. Your guess could be as good as mine. As a direct result of the coronavirus pandemic, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ (AMPAS) Board of Governors has approved several noteworthy rule changes that, among other things, change which films are eligible for the 93rd Academy Awards. Continue reading “93rd Oscars: New Eligibility Requirements and a ‘New’ Category – Special Features #69” →

‘NO TIME TO DIE’ Theatrical Release Postponed Due to Coronavirus Outbreak – Special Features #64

‘NO TIME TO DIE,’ Universal Pictures

The twenty-fifth James Bond film produced by Eon Productions, Cary Joji Fukunaga’s NO TIME TO DIE, was scheduled to be released just next month on April 2nd in most of the world and on April 10th in the United States. The coronavirus outbreak has now affected most of the world, and major events all over the world are now likely to be either canceled or postponed. Now MGM, Universal Pictures, and Eon Productions have announced that the publicity tour and the global release of the film have been postponed to November 2020 to minimize the risk of infection at movie theaters all over the world and to ensure commercial success. Continue reading “‘NO TIME TO DIE’ Theatrical Release Postponed Due to Coronavirus Outbreak – Special Features #64” →