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      Here’s Why ‘The Matrix’ Is More Relevant Than Ever 25 Years Later

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      One scene reflects the themes — A.I., fake news, transgender lives and Gen X — that make the film a classic.Neo, the hero of “The Matrix,” is sure he lives in 1999. He has a green-hued cathode-ray-tube computer screen and a dot-matrix printer. His city has working phone booths.But he’s wrong: He lives in the future (2199, to be exact). Neo’s world is a simulation — a fake-out version of the late 20th century, created by 21st-century artificial intelligences to enslave humanity.When we first saw Neo, though, it really was 1999. The idea of A.I. feeding on human brains and bodies seemed like a thought experiment. But the movie’s warnings about A.I. — and everything else — have sharpened over time, which explains why it’s been harnessed by all kinds of people in the years since: philosophers, pastors, techno-boosters and techno-doomers, the alt-right. Judged solely on cultural relevance, “The Matrix” might be the most consequential release of 1999.The genius of the movie — what makes it incredibly rewatchable 25 years later — is that the writer-directors Lilly and Lana Wachowski didn’t try to control the meaning. Instead, they seeded symbolism throughout.Look with me at how one introductory scene manages to draw together many thematic threads, explaining why in today’s world of pervasive internet, A.I., fake news and extremism, “The Matrix” feels more relevant than ever.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

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      At Sundance Lab, Movie Economics Can’t Be Ignored This Year

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      Funding is a perennial problem for the indie filmmakers who workshop their latest works here. But now Sundance itself is feeling the financial pressure.The storied Sundance Directors Lab has helped develop the early films of Quentin Tarantino and Paul Thomas Anderson, Ryan Coogler and Ava DuVernay. But when this year’s cohort of filmmakers arrived for the intensive workshop, the setting could easily have felt ominous. For the first time, the lab was taking place not at the Sundance Mountain Resort in Utah but in Colorado, at the Stanley Hotel, known more as the inspiration for “The Shining” than for fostering little movies that could.Contrary to the inn that gnawed at Jack Torrance’s sanity, the hotel in Estes Park is actually a thriving operation and as good a place as any to collaborate and create in peace. Yet the behemoth in the Rockies — with its seances, ghost sightings and, yes, a hedge maze — can’t help but seem like a symbol for an especially chilling moment for Sundance and the movie industry at large.This year the Sundance Directors Lab was held at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colo.Jimena Peck for The New York TimesThe advisers gathered twice a day to compare notes. Jimena Peck for The New York TimesFOR MORE THAN FOUR DECADES, the Sundance Film Festival has been a beacon to hungry filmmakers with stories that often proved there were moviegoers beyond those Hollywood courted. The festival remains the bright object that the Sundance Institute presents to the world. But it is the organization’s founder, Robert Redford, and the artist-support programs to which he is committed — for Indigenous filmmakers, for financiers, for producers and others — that have quietly, steadfastly nurtured the young talents so many associate with the festival’s breakout films.Of all the programs, the flagship Directors Lab embodies the Sundance Institute’s long game. Since 1981, a carefully chosen cohort of filmmakers and an equally curated group of veteran advisers, along with small crews and actors, have regularly convened to shoot scenes from the up-and-coming artists’ screenplays.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

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      ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Is the Type of of Superhero Movie the Franchise Once Mocked

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      Making fun of schlocky, overwrought superhero movies used to be the Deadpool signature. But with “Deadpool & Wolverine,” and Disney’s push into the Marvel Universe, that thread is lost.Deadpool movies might as well begin with a fun qualifier for audiences: This isn’t a typical superhero movie; in fact, all genres and tropes are ripe for mocking by this foul-mouthed mercenary hero.In the first “Deadpool,” in the midst of a fight that includes decapitation and maiming, Ryan Reynolds’s Deadpool says, “I may be super, but I am no hero. And yeah, technically this is a murder. But some of the best love stories start with a murder. And that’s exactly what this is: a love story.” In the sequel, Deadpool says, “Believe it or not, ‘Deadpool 2’ is a family film. True story,” as he creatively murders a whole warehouse of Russian criminals. Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5” plays in the background.We’ve got a violent superhero movie that’s also a low-key sendup of tender rom-coms, then another violent superhero movie that pokes fun at the loving family film. So what’s “Deadpool & Wolverine”? Nothing as exciting — just another formulaic Marvel Cinematic Universe movie with a saucier rating.This third installment of the Deadpool franchise fails to deliver on that same knowing play with genre. The jokes are mostly about leaning heavily into the rules and standards of the superhero genre as orchestrated by Marvel — a bad omen for the Deadpool brand, formerly of 20th Century Fox before Disney acquired it in 2019.The new movie picks up a thread from the previous one when Deadpool uses a time-travel device to save the love of his life, Vanessa (Morena Baccarin). It’s a blatant deus ex machina, and the film casually undercuts its own emotional arc in order to make meta jokes about whether time travel could have changed the trajectory of Reynolds’s career.“Deadpool & Wolverine” seems to have forgotten its own joke about the earnest use of cheap plot devices like that — it dives headfirst into the commercial wholesomeness, overextended plotlines and shameless fan service that have come to define the majority of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the last few years. In the latest film, Wolverine’s back from the dead (see the end of “Logan” to catch up), thanks to the multiverse, and he and Deadpool team up to keep Deadpool’s timeline from being decimated by the Time Variance Authority (see “Loki” to catch up).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

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      Looking for the Best in Black Cinema? Try Brown Sugar.

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      The streaming service highlights some of the finest movies starring, and often directed by, Black artists.As the name-brand streaming services struggle to show profits and broker cable-esque bundling packages to cut costs, the most successful streamers are proving to be niche services, which curate specialized libraries for a specific target audience. We’ve spotlighted several such streamers in this space, most of them focusing on clearly defined genres or sensibilities; this month, we look at a service with an eye on one particular culture.Brown Sugar, which started in 2016, promises on its site “hit movies and TV shows along with the largest collection of classic Black cinema, uncut and commercial-free.” Its library features programming about the Black experience, predominately by Black creators, and aimed primarily at Black audiences (while recognizing that those audiences are seeking all sorts of entertainment). There is a robust selection of Black cinema from the 1970s, the vaunted blaxploitation era, including titles from Ossie Davis, Rudy Ray Moore and Richard Roundtree, as well as cult titles like “The Harder They Come” and “Putney Swope,” and ’80s favorites like “Hollywood Shuffle” and “Beat Street.”That era initially dominated the service’s library, but it has since broadened its offerings to include more contemporary romantic comedies, action thrillers, heartwarming dramas, and historical and true crime documentaries. It’s also cultivated a partnership with Bounce TV that gives viewers access to such long-running and popular shows as the soap opera “Saints & Sinners,” the rags-to-riches sitcom “Family Time” and the barbershop-set comedy “In the Cut.”Subscription is a bargain, running only $3.99 per month (after a one-week free trial) or $42 for a year. Brown Sugar is available on desktop and a variety of streaming devices, including Roku, Apple TV and Amazon Fire. Image quality varies wildly — some films and shows are Blu-ray quality, but occasional older and less-cared-for titles may well have been mastered from VHS. But it’s worth the risk for the hidden gems the service offers.Here are a few highlights from the current library:Pryor plays an outlaw and Williams a federal agent in Sidney J. Furie’s film.Paramount Pictures‘Hit!’: “Lady Sings the Blues” was one of the first and most successful (critically and commercially) films of ’70s Black cinema; this 1973 effort reunited that film’s director, Sidney J. Furie, with two of its co-stars, Billy Dee Williams and Richard Pryor, this time for an action extravaganza that more resembled “The French Connection” than “Lady.” Williams plays a federal agent who goes after an international drug cartel after his daughter dies of a heroin overdose; Pryor is one of the team of outlaws and outcasts he puts together to get the job done when his superiors veto the mission. The result is fast-paced and funny (thanks primarily to the always-reliable Pryor), and filled with thrilling action beats.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

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      Robert Downey Jr. to Return to Marvel as Dr. Doom

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      The actor announced his return to Marvel’s superhero movie franchise five years after ending his long run as Iron Man.Robert Downey Jr. is going from superhero to supervillain.The actor, who entertained audiences as Iron Man for more than a decade in several Hollywood blockbusters, is returning to the Marvel cinematic universe as the villain Victor von Doom in two upcoming movies.“New mask, same task,” Downey announced at a Comic-Con event in San Diego on Saturday, after he unveiled the character’s signature silver mask and green cloak to the roar of a cheering crowd.“What can I tell you?” he said. “I like playing complicated characters.”Downey is set to appear as the character, simply known as Dr. Doom, in “Avengers: Doomsday,” which is expected to be released in May 2026, and “Avengers: Secret Wars” a year later.Downey, 59, has been a prolific actor since the 1980s, portraying characters both serious and comedic.He received Academy Award nominations for his portrayal of the actor Charlie Chaplin in the 1992 film “Chaplin,” and for his role in the 2008 war comedy “Tropic Thunder.”After multiple probation violations stemming from an arrest on drug and weapons charges, he was sentenced to prison in 1999 and overcame a long battle with substance abuse.This year, he won the Academy Award for best supporting actor for his role in “Oppenheimer,” Christopher Nolan’s film about the making of the atomic bomb during World War II. Downey played the titular character’s political rival, Lewis Strauss.But audiences best know him for helping to start an era of blockbuster superhero movies that began in 2008 with the first “Iron Man” movie.He played the charismatic genius-inventor-billionaire-arms dealer Tony Stark, who becomes Iron Man and eventually leads a team of heroes, the Avengers, who protect the world against dark forces.He played the character in sequels and spinoffs including “Iron Man 2,” “Captain America: Civil War” and “Spider-Man: Homecoming.” He last appeared as Iron Man in the 2019 film, “Avengers: Endgame,” in which the character was killed off.And now Downey is going back to the popular superhero realm with Dr. Doom, a megalomaniacal villainous tycoon from the Marvel comic book series “Fantastic Four,” which was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1961.In the series, Dr. Doom wore a threatening silver mask to hide his scarred face.The character was previously played by Julian McMahon in the 2005 film “Fantastic Four” and in the 2007 sequel “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.” A reboot in 2015 featured the actor Toby Kebbell as Dr. Doom.The casting news comes as Marvel Studios, which has been trying to reverse recent box office misses, brought back two of its most popular characters, Deadpool and Wolverine, with the movie “Deadpool & Wolverine.”The movie was expected to sell roughly $205 million in tickets in the United States and Canada over the weekend, box office analysts said on Saturday. More

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      Know What’s Funny About Getting Old? These Movies Do.

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      Star-studded with leading ladies, who are all a bit older, recent comedies like “The Fabulous Four” and “80 for Brady” are establishing a popular new genre.There are two new films this year in which Academy Award-nominated actresses in their 70s whip out tiny sex toys. In “Summer Camp,” Kathy Bates offers up wee vibrators to Alfre Woodard and Diane Keaton. In “The Fabulous Four,” it’s Bette Midler giving Susan Sarandon a kegel ball that she later flings at a bike thief.You might confuse these comedies with “Book Club” (2018), where Keaton, again, finds herself in the company of fellow older luminaries (Jane Fonda, Mary Steenburgen and Candice Bergen). Or with “Poms” (2019), which places Keaton on a retirement community cheer squad with Jacki Weaver, Rhea Perlman and Pam Grier. Then, again, there’s also “80 for Brady” (2023), where Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Sally Field and Rita Moreno go to the Super Bowl.From left: Kathy Bates, Diane Keaton and Alfre Woodard in “Summer Camp,” directed by Castille Landon. “It’s important that we see people having fun,” Landon said.Roadside AttractionsThough the circumstances are different, the similarities in plot, casting and themes make the films easy to classify but tough to label. “Legendary ladies of cinema do a light romp,” is a little long; “Old lady comedies” might seem demeaning, but that is, essentially, how the films identify themselves. In the “80 for Brady” trailer, Moreno sums it up by saying: “The Super Bowl is no place for four old women.”Regardless of the label, this growing genre of star-studded comedies has become popular in recent years, with “Four,” which hit theaters on Friday, becoming the latest installment in the canon.You can usually see the same types of characters in each film. At least one of the women is a stick in the mud. In “The Fabulous Four” that’s Sarandon’s job. As Lou, she’s a serious doctor who loves cats and is holding a grudge against Midler’s character over a long-ago offense. Often Keaton, with her turtlenecks, is the most uptight of her group. And Fonda, when she appears, plays sexually adventurous characters, prone to making off-color jokes. Megan Mullally has that gig in “Four,” with an assist from the famously bawdy Midler. There are usually high jinks involving behavior that one might not expect from seniors. They get high. They go on adventurous excursions like parasailing or ziplining. They experiment with technology and social media. (“The Fabulous Four” has a whole bit about Midler on TikTok.)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

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      Hollywood’s Message to Red States: Our Movies Are for You

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      After a period of openly using movies to display progressive values, studios seem to be heeding a message from many ticket buyers: Just entertain us.For nearly two decades, Hollywood has seemingly missed no opportunity to sound the alarm about climate change.There have been cri de coeur documentaries, most notably “An Inconvenient Truth.” Superheroes have been concerned, with Batman bemoaning mankind’s treatment of the planet in “Justice League.” Nary an award show goes by without a star or several begging viewers to take environment-saving action.So it was startling when the weather-focused “Twisters” arrived from Universal Pictures this month with no mention of climate change at all. If ever there was a perfect vehicle to carry Hollywood’s progressive climate change messaging — a big-budget movie about people caught in worsening storm patterns — wasn’t this it?Apparently not. Movies should not be about “preaching a message,” Lee Isaac Chung, who directed “Twisters,” said in a prerelease interview that served as a dog whistle to conservative ticket buyers.Trend spotting in cinema is a hazardous pursuit. Sometimes a movie is just a movie. “Twisters,” however, is emblematic of a clear shift in Hollywood: After a period of openly using movies to display progressive values, sometimes with success at the box office (“Barbie”) and often not (“Strange World,” “The Marvels,” “The Color Purple,” “Dark Waters”), studios seem to be heeding a message that many ticket buyers — especially in the center of the country — have been sending for a long time: We just want to be entertained, no homework attached.Put bluntly, it amounts to an attempt by Hollywood to bend to red state audiences.“It’s a reflection of economics and the desperation of the film industry,” said Corby Pons, a movie marketer who focuses on the faith community and is based in Nashville. “We want you to attend our movies. We need you to attend our movies.”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

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      A Guide to Every ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Cameo

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      Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman are the stars, but they get help from a host of actors you may know from other superhero movies.“Deadpool & Wolverine” expects its audience to have a very good memory. To get the most out of the movie you have to not only be well-versed in the previous films starring the characters of the title — Ryan Reynolds’s foul-mouthed mercenary and Hugh Jackman’s gruff mutant with spiky claws — but you also should be able to recall the last 25 or so years of movies inspired by Marvel comic books. Even the ones that perhaps Marvel would like to forget.It also helps to know your Hollywood deal history. The film, directed by Shawn Levy, refers repeatedly to the fact that Disney, the owner of Marvel Studios, purchased Fox, Deadpool’s previous home. There are all sorts of appearances from previous Marvel stars thanks to a timeline-hopping plot in which Deadpool recruits Wolverine to help him save his friends from destruction. Along the way they meet heroes and baddies from various versions of this universe, many of whom have very familiar faces. Most of these characters have been discarded in what is called the Void, a wasteland of unwanted superpowered individuals first introduced in the Disney+ series “Loki.”Here’s a guide. Be warned: These are all spoilers.Chris Evans as Johnny StormWhen Chris Evans is first unveiled in “Deadpool & Wolverine,” both Deadpool and the audience assume he is playing Steve Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America. After all, Deadpool is now part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But Evans is actually here as the superhero he played before Captain America: Johnny Storm, the Human Torch. Evans portrayed that Fantastic Four member in 2005’s “Fantastic Four” and “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer” (2007). Those films were decidedly not as acclaimed or beloved as any of the Captain America flicks. So Evans’s appearance here as Johnny is both something of an intentional letdown and a more dastardly joke. It’s the first sign that “Deadpool & Wolverine” is going to be heavily referencing the pre-M.C.U. era of Fox Marvel movies.Jennifer Garner as ElektraJennifer Garner in “Elektra,” her 2005 superhero movie.20th Century FoxAfter Evans, there are three other stars who make for the most gasp-worthy cameos. The first is Jennifer Garner, back in leather as Elektra, whom she played in the 2005 movie of the same name. “Elektra,” a spinoff of “Daredevil” (2003), was not reviewed positively at the time, with The New York Times calling it a “rickety vehicle.” What about her Daredevil, played by Garner’s ex-husband, Ben Affleck? He does not show up in “Deadpool & Wolverine,” a fact acknowledged with a knowing laugh line. (Mostly, seeing Garner just made us wish for an “Alias” reboot.)Wesley Snipes as BladeWesley Snipes as Blade, a character that was better received than some of the others making cameos.New Line CinemaWe 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