Movies

Subterms

    More stories

    • 75 Shares99 Views

      in Movies

      How ‘Ballerina’ Set People on Fire

      by

      Ana de Armas wields a flamethrower in “From the World of John Wick: Ballerina” and torches, well, a lot. Here’s how they made that sequence come to life. (And yes, the flames are mostly real.)When Chad Stahelski, best known as the driving force behind the “John Wick” franchise, was in high school he volunteered with his local fire department. Over the years the images from that experience stuck in his head, and the former stuntman started to dream up an action sequence involving lots and lots of fire.“I’m like, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if I combined fire and water, and we had a flamethrower fight?” Stahelski, a producer of “From the World of John Wick: Ballerina,” said in a video interview. “Two guys with flamethrowers and they are going to shoot each other.” Watching an early cut of “Ballerina” he realized he had the ideal vehicle for his fire dreams: It would be a showstopper for the star assassin, Eve, played by Ana de Armas.“How do I make her look smart? How do I make her look badass? It wasn’t about fighting more guys,” he said. “It’s like, OK, let’s give her something that really shows a skill set. And that’s when we went to fire.”The result is a bravura third-act set piece in which Eve torches her enemies in an Alpine village, going flamethrower to flamethrower with a massive villainous henchman named Dex (Robert Maaser). Instead of using digital flames, “Ballerina,” directed by Len Wiseman, mostly went for the real thing. According to Stahelski, 90 to 95 percent of the fires onscreen are “unenhanced real burns.”To accomplish this, Stahelski called in an expert in the world of movie fire, the stuntman Jayson Dumenigo, who developed a long-lasting protective burn gel for stunt performers that recently won him an honor from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Even Dumenigo was skeptical they could accomplish what Stahelski had in mind when he first heard the pitch.Ana de Armas uses a real flamethrower as a weapon in “From the World of John Wick: Ballerina.”Murray Close/LionsgateWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 125 Shares179 Views

      in Movies

      Frederick Forsyth, Master of the Geopolitical Thriller, Dies at 86

      by

      He wrote best-sellers like “The Day of the Jackal” and “The Dogs of War,” often using material from his earlier life as a reporter and spy.Frederick Forsyth, who used his early experience as a British foreign correspondent and occasional intelligence operative as fodder for a series of swashbuckling, best-selling thrillers in the 1970s and ’80s, including “The Day of the Jackal,” “The Odessa File” and “The Dogs of War,” died on Monday at his home in Jordans, a village north of London. He was 86.His literary representative, Jonathan Lloyd, who confirmed the death, did not specify a cause, saying only that Mr. Forsyth’s had died after a short illness.Mr. Forsyth was a master of the geopolitical nail-biter, writing novels embedded in an international demimonde populated by spies, mercenaries and political extremists. He wrote 24 books, including 14 novels, and sold more than 75 million copies.His stories often juxtapose a single individual against sprawling networks of power and money — an unnamed assassin against the French government in “The Day of the Jackal” (1971), a lone German reporter against a shadowy conspiracy to protect ex-Nazi officers in “The Odessa File” (1972).A film version of “The Day of the Jackal,” starring Edward Fox, right, and Cyril Cusack was released in 1973, just two years after the novel’s publication.George Higgins/Universal Pictures“It’s one man against a huge machine,” he told The Times of London in 2024, explaining why so many readers of “The Day of the Jackal” sided with a hit man intent on killing French President Charles de Gaulle, instead of with the authorities. “We don’t like machines, so one guy even trying to kill a human being, taking on this vast machine of government, secret intelligence service, police and so on, has appeal.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 138 Shares119 Views

      in Movies

      Takeaways From Graduation Speeches by Trump, Taraji P. Henson and Others

      by

      The New York Times studied videos of addresses posted online, including those by President Trump, Kermit the Frog and a slew of celebrity speakers. Here is a look at key themes that emerged.It has been a graduation season unlike any other. The Trump administration is investigating elite universities and cutting research funding. Pro-Palestinian activism and claims of antisemitism are shaping campus life. International students are worried about having their visas revoked.In contrast with past generations, what a speaker says on a commencement stage now reaches an audience far larger than the crowd that day. Universities routinely post footage of ceremonies online, giving faraway relatives of graduates a chance to tune in and handing keynote speakers a global stage.The New York Times studied videos of dozens of keynote commencement addresses that were posted online — more than 170,000 words delivered this spring at a cross section of America’s higher education institutions — in order to analyze the most pressing topics. Many speakers, including Kermit the Frog at the University of Maryland, the gymnast Simone Biles at Washington University in St. Louis and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem at Dakota State University, avoided the political fray and focused on timeless lessons.But plenty of others, including journalists, scientists and politicians from both parties, weighed in directly on the news of the moment. Many of them described 2025 in existential terms, warning about dire threats to free speech and democracy. Others heralded the dawn of a promising new American era. Here is a look at key themes that emerged in those speeches.A Moment of OpportunitySeveral speakers struck an upbeat tone about the world students were entering.Videos posted by Vanderbilt University, Liberty University and Furman University showed many commencement speakers voicing optimism about the opportunities awaiting graduates.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 113 Shares189 Views

      in Movies

      Ferris Bueller’s Vest Hits the Auction Block. ‘Anyone, Anyone?’

      by

      Worn by Matthew Broderick in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” the vest could fetch several hundred thousand dollars, according to Sotheby’s.There might be a temptation to play hooky when wearing it — stealing away in a Ferrari GT to catch a matinee game at Wrigley Field.Alas, no one is likely to confuse the person donning it with Abe Froman, the “sausage king of Chicago.”But for a six-figure sum, you could still channel Ferris Bueller, whose patterned sweater vest from “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” the 1986 John Hughes comedy about a suburban Chicago teenager ditching school, hit the auction block this week.The vest worn by the actor Matthew Broderick in the movie could fetch several hundred thousand dollars, according to Sotheby’s, which is handling the garment’s sale.The auction began on Thursday, the 40th anniversary of Ferris’s high jinks, and runs through June 24, with the bidding taking place online.As Ferris’s monotone economics teacher, played by Ben Stein, would say: “Anyone, anyone?”The vest is reminiscent of a cheetah print and made from acrylic yarn. It is expected to fetch an estimated $300,000 to $600,000, far outpacing the rate of inflation. And then some.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 138 Shares199 Views

      in Movies

      The Director of ‘Mission Impossible: Final Reckoning’ Unpacks Key Franchise Moments

      by

      Christopher McQuarrie was a 27-year-old former movie-theater security guard when he won the Oscar for best screenplay in 1996 for “The Usual Suspects.” Things went a little pear-shaped from that early peak, as they tend to do in Hollywood, and the Princeton, N.J., native was looking to leave the industry altogether when he piqued Tom Cruise’s interest for another script that became the 2008 Hitler-assassination drama “Valkyrie.”It was the start of a professional relationship that has culminated in McQuarrie, now 56, directing and co-producing the past four films of the “Mission Impossible” franchise, including “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning,” in which Cruise famously stars as the unsinkable (and seemingly unkillable) special agent Ethan Hunt.Recently, McQuarrie spoke with The Times in New York and later via video call from the back of an SUV in Mexico City about the choice to make A.I. the villain, the question of whether the franchise is coming to an end, and a “gnarly” secret Tom Cruise movie in the works. Here are edited excerpts from those conversations.When did the decision come that “Dead Reckoning” and “Final Reckoning” would be the final two films in the franchise?Over the course of “Rogue Nation” [2015], “Fallout” [2018] and then “Dead Reckoning” [2023], we were delving deeper and deeper into the emotions of the characters and their arcs. I said, “Look, we know that it’s going to be a long movie, let’s just cut it in half.”I understand the irony of me saying we were going to make two two-hour movies and we ended up making these two much, much bigger ones. But we didn’t really think of it as being the conclusion of anything until we were about halfway through “Dead Reckoning.” Over time, we started to feel that this is a movie about the franchise more than just about the mission.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 150 Shares119 Views

      in Movies

      How Stacy Spikes, Co-Founder of MoviePass, Spends His Day at the Theater

      by

      Stacy Spikes grew up at the movies. When he was a child in Houston, his mother would give him and his brother $5 each, drop them off at the theater — the manager knew them by name — and come back hours later. “She’d probably be arrested today,” he said. “It was a different time.”But that time at the movies was formative for Mr. Spikes, 56, who in 1997 founded Urbanworld Film Festival, a five-day festival in New York that showcases Black and multicultural films. In 2011, he co-founded MoviePass, a subscription-based ticketing service, which he later sold and then bought back in 2021.“Seeing Disney films and being dropped off at the theater, that was a form of escape for us, but it was like our babysitter,” Mr. Spikes said. “I saw ‘Blade Runner’ when I was 13 years old and I knew I was going to work in this area.”The movie industry has evolved in recent years, but Mr. Spikes remains a film buff. Recently, he saw “Sinners” three times in three different types of theaters.“I knew it had great music so I saw it the first time in Dolby Atmos, which focuses on the sound,” he said. “The second screening, I saw it in IMAX, and now you’re really focused on the picture and that part of the experience.”Mr. Spikes stretching before his daily run. He said he hasn’t missed a run in 11 years.Shuran Huang for The New York TimesWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 113 Shares119 Views

      in Movies

      AMC Says It Will Show More Ads Before Movies

      by

      The theater chain’s decision brings it in line with what its biggest competitors, Regal and Cinemark, have been doing since 2019, but it risks irking loyal customers.It’s a perennial frustration for moviegoers: The lights go out, the theater falls silent and the anticipation of the movie builds.But wait! Here are a few more ads for you to sit through.Most cinema enthusiasts know that going to the movies comes with a healthy dose of promotion, from the ads onscreen to the ones plastered on drink cups and bags of popcorn. But starting in July, AMC will join its major competitors in running even more commercials before movie screenings begin, in an effort to increase revenue without hiking ticket prices as the industry struggles.The movie theater chain has struck a deal with the cinema advertising company National CineMedia to play commercials in what is known as the “platinum spot” — right before the start of a movie. It is a departure from 2019, when AMC issued a strongly worded statement rejecting the company’s proposal to place ads in that spot. (National CineMedia signed agreements with two of AMC’s rivals, Regal and Cinemark, that year.)In a statement on Wednesday, AMC suggested it was prepared to receive some backlash. But at a time when movie theaters are struggling to get Americans to start going to the movies again, AMC noted that the decision would not make it any more expensive for customers.“For the past five years, AMC has sought out crucial revenue that is not reliant on the increase of base ticket prices,” the company said in the statement. Of the new advertisements, it added that “while AMC was initially reluctant to bring this to our theaters, our competitors have fully participated for more than five years without any direct impact to their attendance.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 125 Shares179 Views

      in Movies

      Watch Ana de Armas Fight Using Kitchen Utensils in ‘Ballerina’

      by

      The director Len Wiseman narrates an action sequence from “From the World of John Wick: Ballerina.”In “Anatomy of a Scene,” we ask directors to reveal the secrets that go into making key scenes in their movies. See new episodes in the series on Fridays. You can also watch our collection of more than 150 videos on YouTube and subscribe to our YouTube channel.In one scene in “From the World of John Wick: Ballerina,” there may be too many assassins in the kitchen.The film’s title character, the trained killer Eve (Ana de Armas), has made her way to an alpine village in Austria as part of a mission to root out a cult. But violent townspeople keep getting in her way. In a restaurant, Eve encounters a cook who aims to do more with her knife than julienne.What follows is a brisk action scene in which kitchen utensils are wielded violently and plates are smashed frantically.Narrating the scene, the director Len Wiseman said that during rehearsal, the goal was to “explore and use everything in a diner that could be used as a possible weapon.”That included pans, a meat tenderizer and a pile of plates that became the centerpiece of the sequence, as the two performers are seen in an overhead shot smashing dishes over each other’s heads.“This was one of the hardest things to do,” Wiseman said during an interview in New York, “because the plates are breakaway plates. They have one job. They break.” This meant that the actors had to be really careful picking up the plates, but also had to make the action look forceful.In the end, Wiseman and his team just wanted to have a little fun with this sequence. “What I was going for,” he said, “is let’s have this one be violent, but also make people laugh.”Read the “Ballerina” review.Sign up for the Movies Update newsletter and get a roundup of reviews, news, Critics’ Picks and more. More