Movies

#masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }What to WatchBest Movies on NetflixBest of Disney PlusBest of Amazon PrimeBest Netflix DocumentariesNew on NetflixAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main story‘Our Friend’ Review: Lean on MeJason Segel is the ballast that keeps this soggy drama from sinking completely.Jason Segel and Dakota Johnson in “Our Friend.”Credit…Claire Folger/Gravitas VenturesJan. 21, 2021, 7:00 a.m. ETOur FriendDirected by Gabriela CowperthwaiteDramaR2h 4mFind TicketsWhen you purchase a ticket for an independently reviewed film through our site, we earn an affiliate commission.As with any bad movie emerging from someone’s real-life tragedy, “Our Friend” is almost more painful to critique than to watch. Based on Matthew Teague’s raw 2015 article detailing the decline of his wife, Nicole, from ovarian cancer, this drippy drama presents precisely the kind of prettified portrait of death that Teague’s candid writing sought to rebut.Packing roughly 14 years into a ruinously nonlinear timeline, the director Gabriela Cowperthwaite (whose nonfiction skills would seem perfectly suited to this material) strains to pin down emotions that reconstitute with almost every scene. Watching Matt and Nicole (Casey Affleck and a charming Dakota Johnson) process Nicole’s 2012 diagnosis, argue in 2008 over Matt’s job as a war correspondent and deal with an infidelity in 2011, the movie’s splintered chronology keeps us at arm’s length. As a consequence, Nicole’s suffering — she’s bedridden one minute, brightly playing charades the next — is drained of the force to wound us.[embedded content]The only constant is Dane (a perfectly steadfast Jason Segel), the friend of the title and the family’s glue. Counselor, housekeeper, babysitter to the couple’s two small daughters — he’s indispensable and unfathomable, moving in to help and staying more than a year. His selflessness is as astonishing as Matt and Nicole’s casual acceptance of it, his motivations a mystery perhaps only the audience cares to solve.It’s not the only puzzle in Brad Ingelsby’s frustratingly vague script, like why is Nicole’s family — who supposedly prompted the couple’s move from Louisiana to Alabama — not more involved? And how could an article that grappled openly with the horrors of terminal illness grow into a Lifetime-ready weepie like this?Our FriendRated R for distressing language. Running time: 2 hours 4 minutes. In theaters and available to rent or buy on Amazon, Apple TV and other streaming platforms and pay TV operators. Please consult the guidelines outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention before watching movies inside theaters.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

#masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }What to WatchBest Movies on NetflixBest of Disney PlusBest of Amazon PrimeBest Netflix DocumentariesNew on NetflixAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main story‘No Man’s Land’ Review: Leaving Home, Learning ToleranceAn act of violence forces a Texas rancher to cross the Rio Grande and question his beliefs.Jake Allyn and Andie McDowell in “No Man’s Land.”Credit…IFC FilmsJan. 21, 2021, 7:00 a.m. ETNo Man’s LandDirected by Conor AllynAction, Adventure, Thriller, WesternPG-131h 54mFind TicketsWhen you purchase a ticket for an independently reviewed film through our site, we earn an affiliate commission.Strangled by good intentions and teachable-moment clichés, Conor Allyn’s “No Man’s Land” turns the border between Texas and Mexico into a gateway to racial empathy.When Jackson Greer (Jake Allyn, the director’s brother) accidentally kills a young Mexican boy during a chaotic confrontation near his family’s ranch, his father (Frank Grillo) tries to take the blame. A suspicious Texas Ranger (George Lopez) isn’t buying it, though, so Jackson takes off on horseback, crossing the Rio Grande and heading south into Mexico. What follows is less a flight from justice than a journey of moral redemption and attitude realignment.[embedded content]Wracked with guilt and haunted by visions of the dead boy, Jackson begins a slow and sensitive awakening. As he interacts with the Mexican families who feed him and offer him work, the film’s meandering middle section is marked by moments of gentle humanity and arid beauty. Brief dust-ups with various pursuers — law enforcement; a lanky, leering coyote — barely mar Jackson’s leading-man looks and beseeching gaze, both of which help endear him to the lovely woman (Esmeralda Pimentel) who facilitates his ongoing escape.Relying on music to build a tension that’s missing from the script, the director, who grew up between Texas and Mexico, is unable to moderate his impulses. So when Jackson risks his life to confront the dead boy’s enraged father (Jorge A. Jiménez), his penitence has more than a touch of the sacrificial. By the end, “No Man’s Land” is so thickly blanketed in a plea for comity that virtually every act of kindness feels like a step toward saving Jackson’s soul.No Man’s LandRated PG-13 for guns, knives and a hint of drugs. Running time: 1 hour 54 minutes. In theaters. Also available to rent or buy on Amazon, Vudu and other streaming platforms and pay TV operators. Please consult the guidelines outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention before watching movies inside theaters.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

#masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }What to WatchBest Movies on NetflixBest of Disney PlusBest of Amazon PrimeBest Netflix DocumentariesNew on NetflixAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyCritic’s Pick‘Preparations to Be Together’ Review: Mysteries of LoveA neurosurgeon pursues the man of her dreams in this simmering portrait of obsession by the Hungarian filmmaker Lili Horvat.Natasa Stork in “Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time.”Credit…Greenwich EntertainmentJan. 21, 2021, 7:00 a.m. ETPreparations to be Together for an Unknown Period of TimeNYT Critic’s PickDirected by Lili HorvátDrama, Romance1h 35mFind TicketsWhen you purchase a ticket for an independently reviewed film through our site, we earn an affiliate commission.“Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time,” the second feature by the Hungarian writer-director Lili Horvat, considers the slippery relationship between consciousness and desire with a poignant hypothetical: what if you fall so hard for someone that you convince yourself they love you back? At the shattering of such an illusion is where we meet Marta (Natasa Stork), an accomplished, 40-year-old neurosurgeon who hastily leaves behind her life and career in the U.S. to reunite with the man she loves. Yet when she arrives at their agreed-upon meeting point — the Pest end of Budapest’s Liberty Bridge — Janos (Viktor Bodo) is nowhere to be found. And when she tracks him down at the nearby medical institute, he claims to not know who she is.Horvat’s subversive portrait of obsession flips the femme fatale trope on its head by taking the enigmatic woman’s point of view. A noirish psychodrama simmering with ambiguities, the film cleverly toys with our perception by loosening our heroine’s grip on reality. Steely, self-possessed Marta is riddled with doubt over whether she is either the victim of gaslighting or legitimately insane. Summoning these ideas against a clinical backdrop, Horvat upends the glib notion of “a woman’s intuition.”[embedded content]Refusing to give up on Janos, Marta joins the surgical team at a hospital, and undergoes therapy in an attempt to find an explanation for her woes. Like a detective, she observes Janos by attending the same events, all while tolerating the advances of an obstinate medical student (Benett Vilmanyi). Is she behaving in a manner similarly hopeless and deluded as this young man?Shot in 35 millimeter by the cinematographer Robert Maly, “Preparations” manifests its protagonist’s uncertainty through fluttering reflections and slinky shadows, and images that conceal and obscure the full picture. An evocatively romantic moment in which Janos, remaining always on the opposite side of the road, follows Marta home, anchors the film’s ethereal sense of longing. And later, a tryst in Marta’s unfurnished apartment exudes the eeriness of a vividly realistic dream.Here, the absence of evidence and witnesses is less an erotic thrill than a point of despair.Marta is an expert in treating diseases affecting the human brain, yet Horvat understands that even the most sophisticated calculus is ill-equipped to interpret the mysteries of desire. After all, love itself may be a kind of neurological disorder.Preparations to be Together for an Unknown Period of TimeNot rated. In Hungarian and English, with subtitles. Running time: 1 hour 35 minutes. In theaters and on Film Forum virtual cinema. Please consult the guidelines outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention before watching movies inside theaters.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

#masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }What to WatchBest Movies on NetflixBest of Disney PlusBest of Amazon PrimeBest Netflix DocumentariesNew on NetflixAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyCritic’s Pick‘Notturno’ Review: The Heart of the Middle EastGianfranco Rosi’s latest, beautifully shot documentary movingly observes people and places across Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Kurdistan in the aftermath of war.A scene from Gianfranco Rosi’s documentary “Notturno.”Credit…Super LtdJan. 21, 2021, 7:00 a.m. ETNotturnoNYT Critic’s PickDirected by Gianfranco RosiDocumentary1h 40mFind TicketsWhen you purchase a ticket for an independently reviewed film through our site, we earn an affiliate commission.The sound of distant gunfire crops up in the background in Gianfranco Rosi’s “Notturno,” one of many reminders of how war has shaped the inhabitants of Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Kurdistan who appear onscreen. Rosi has a way of sitting with people, sometimes close-up, more often from afar, and soaking in their lived experience and the pulse of landscapes shaped by brutal external forces (from Western incursions to ISIS). His melancholic documentary moves beyond a sense of perpetual aftermath by picking up threads of continuity in people’s resilience.Rosi, who directed the migrant-focused “Fire at Sea,” excels at uncovering scenes of drama and emotion without leveraging them for sentimental impact. The opening sequences of “Notturno” offer a kind of overture for the whole film: soldiers march past the camera in relentless hut-hut-hut succession; an old woman mourns her son, touching the walls in what looks like an abandoned prison; and a man rows off into the night, seemingly to hunt for food. We’ll see more of people getting through their days — a couple smoking hookah on a rooftop is one sweet sight — but shots of soldiers are never very far, standing guard, waiting. Half an hour in, a boy also starts to appear, working multiple jobs, and in his youth, he’s like a glimpse of a hopeful horizon.[embedded content]But the boy also has noticeable sleep circles under his eyes, and Rosi’s moody photography moves between this kind of sympathetic portraiture and vistas of countrysides with yawning skies, or crepuscular city streets. (Some desolate backdrops recall his underappreciated 2008 film, “Below Sea Level,” which visited with the squatters of Slab City, California, years before “Nomadland.”) Lest the film sound like a kind of travelogue, it can also knock the wind out of you, as in a wrenching look at children and their drawings about violent traumas inflicted by ISIS.Eschewing interviews and captions, Rosi puts his faith in a steady tripod camera and an evident ability to build up trust. He’s able to join troops on what looks like a nighttime reconnaissance mission, to watch rehearsals of a play about Iraqi history at a Baghdad psychiatric hospital, and to observe ISIS soldiers milling about in a prison yard. The past two decades of documentary film have produced many anatomies of history that attempt to summarize several millenniums, but Rosi’s borderless tableaus bring out another kind of truth in faces, places and pure feeling.NotturnoNot rated. In Arabic and Kurdish, with subtitles. Running time: 1 hour 40 minutes. Watch through virtual cinemas. Starting Jan. 29, watch on Hulu and rent or buy on pay TV operators.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

WENN/Avalon

Speaking about bringing Richard Burton back to life through the new radio play, ‘The Americans’ actor praises his legendary fellow Welshman for ‘blazing the trail for us all.’

Jan 21, 2021
AceShowbiz – Matthew Rhys will bring his legendary fellow Welshman Richard Burton back to life in a new radio play for Audible.
The “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” star, who earned seven Oscar nominations during his career, was almost as famous for his partying and colourful off-screen love life, which included two marriages to Elizabeth Taylor – and “The Americans”‘ Rhys has been a fan of his work for decades.
When he was an 18-year-old drama student in London, the Emmy winner saw the one-man show “Playing Burton”, which was all about his hero’s life and career and told from the actor’s own perspective, and the play, written by Mark Jenkins, really changed his life.
It also follows his hildhood in an impoverished mining community in South Wales to becoming one of the most acclaimed as well as highly-paid actors in his generation. It will also feature his love affair with fellow “Cleopatra” co-star Elizabeth Taylor as well as his public battle with alcoholism and related health issues prior to his death at the age of 58.

  See also…

Now he’s taking on the role for himself in a new production for Audible’s Theater programme – and he couldn’t be more honoured.
“The reason I wanted to act was because of Richard Burton,” Rhys tells Variety. “Since first seeing his incredible performance in ‘Look Back in Anger’ to still listening to his audio (recordings) of ‘Hamlet’ and ‘Under Milk Wood’. He blazed the trail for us all and showed us it was possible.”
Burton died of a brain haemorrhage, age 58, in 1984.
Catch Matthew as his acting hero on Audible Theater from 28 January (21).

You can share this post!

Next article
Jessica Simpson Challenges Cold Weather by Donning Snakeskin Bikini in Snow

Related Posts More

Columbia Pictures

The ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ actor opens up about his anxiety of being cut as Spider-Man after making his debut as the web-crawler in the sequel to ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’.

Jan 21, 2021
AceShowbiz – Tom Holland was unsure that he would continue to play Spider-Man even after making his debut as the web-crawler in “Captain America: Civil War”. In an interview for Variety’s Actors on Actors with Daniel Kaluuya, the Brit opens up about his anxiety of being fired by Marvel after filming the third Captain America movie.
“From the moment of shooting ‘Civil War’ to ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’, I was convinced they were going to fire me,” Holland admits. “I don’t know why. ‘Civil War’ hadn’t come out yet, and I just didn’t hear anything from anyone. I can’t really explain it. It was awful.”
Thankfully, much to Holland surprise, he didn’t get fired. “…but they didn’t – obviously. It’s been crazy, mate,” the 24-year-old actor expresses his relief as he shares how he’s been enjoying playing the friendly neighborhood superhero, “I’ve loved every minute of it.”
During the interview, Holland also details the long process of audition to nab the role. “There’s three stages of life changing,” he says. “It’s weird. The audition process was horrible. It was seven months of auditioning. I must’ve done six auditions, and they don’t tell you anything.”

  See also…

But Holland seems to have a good memory of doing a screen test in Atlanta opposite Robert Downey Jr. a.k.a. Iron Man. “There was me and six other kids, and Downey was there, so we all tested with Downey, which was crazy,” he recalls. “It’s the best audition I’ve ever done, him and I were riffing off each other. My agents told me that Marvel likes you to learn the words exactly – you can’t improvise. And then, on the first take, Downey just completely changed the scene. We started riffing with each other, and I mean, to sound like a bit of a d**k, I rang my mum afterward and was like, ‘I think I’ve got it.’ ”
Holland returned for another screen test six weeks later, where he performed a fight scene with Captain America (Chris Evans). “They flew us back to Atlanta, me and one other guy, and we did this scene, which was so surreal,” he shares. “By that point, it had been an amazing enough of an experience that if I hadn’t got the part, I would’ve felt like I’d at least achieved something to get to that point.”
The “Cherry” star says he only found out that he’s officially cast as Spider-Man through the news. “I got my computer, and my dog was sitting next to me,” he says. “I type in ‘Marvel.’ I’ve still got the article saved on my computer. It said, ‘We would like to introduce our new Spider-Man, Tom Holland.’ ”
Not being able to contain his excitement, Holland says he “broke my computer, because I flipped it up in the air.” He continues, “It fell off my bed; my dog went nuts. I ran downstairs. I was telling my family, ‘I got the part! I got the part!’ And obviously, that was right about the time when Sony had got hacked, so my brother, Harry, who’s quite tech savvy, was like, ‘No. There’s no way that’s real. They would have called you. They’ve been hacked.’ And then the studio called me and gave me the news. It was so bizarre how it happened.”
Holland is currently filming the third Spider-Man movie, which has Jon Watts back at the helm. It is currently scheduled for release on December 17, 2021 in the U.S., though its subject to change as the coronavirus pandemic has postponed the production.

You can share this post!

Next article
Matthew Rhys to Turn One-Man Show ‘Playing Burton’ Into Audible Production More

WENN/Derrick Salters

Before landing the part in ‘Remember Me: The Mahalia Jackson Story’, the RnB singer has stepped into the shoes of the Queen of Gospel in Martin Luther King Jr.’s 2014 biopic ‘Selma’.

Jan 21, 2021
AceShowbiz – R&B singer Ledisi will be stepping back into the shoes of the Queen of Gospel Mahalia Jackson for a new film.
The musician previously portrayed Mahalia in 2014’s Martin Luther King, Jr. biopic “Selma”, and now she has been tapped to reprise the role for “Remember Me: The Mahalia Jackson Story”.
She will star in the project opposite “Scandal” actor Columbus Short, who will play Mahalia’s close friend and civil rights icon King, Jr.
“The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” alum Janet Hubert and Wendy Raquel Robinson from “The Walking Dead” have also been cast in the movie, written by Ericka Nicole Malone and directed by Denise Dowse, reports Deadline.
“Remember Me”, named after one of Mahalia’s signature songs, will follow her career success between 1956 and 1963, during which she grew close to King, Jr. and became a key voice in the Civil Rights Movement.

  See also…

Celebrating her new role, Ledisi said, “I am honored to be given a chance to paint the world through Mahalia’s eyes and sing her songs.”
“Watching Columbus Short transform into Dr. Martin Luther King has been inspiring. I am sharing space with so many amazing actors and with Ericka Nicole Malone’s words and being under the direction of the great Denise Dowse’s I am thrilled to be telling the story of New Orleans Gospel Legend Mahalia Jackson (sic).”
And Short added, “I have dreamed of playing this role for many years. It’s truly a great honor to portray a man that has made such an indelible impact on society and to all of ours lives (sic). I am thankful to Ericka for the opportunity and proud to play alongside a wonderful cast.”

Mahalia isn’t the only music legend Ledisi has portrayed onscreen – she also played Patti LaBelle on TV drama series “American Soul” last year.

You can share this post!

Next article
Kristen Bell Admits to Be Needing Little Therapy Brush-Up With Dax Shepard at Start of COVID-19 More

WENN

In the upcoming movie, the ‘Spider-Man: Far From Home’ actor is reportedly in contention to play the major role previously played by Gene Wilder and then Johnny Depp.

Jan 21, 2021
AceShowbiz – Tom Holland is reportedly in the frame to play Willy Wonka in the “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” prequel.
The actor – who is best known for playing Spider-Man – is among the contenders for the coveted role in the upcoming movie.
Timothee Chalamet is also being eyed for the role, according to Britain’s The Sun newspaper, which reports that Warner Bros. has been working on the prequel for a number of years.
The studio hopes that the film – which is based around the characters from Roald Dahl’s children’s novel – will go into production later this year and is planning to release the movie in March 2023.

  See also…

In 2018, Ryan Gosling, Donald Glover, and Ezra Miller were all linked to the part, but they are no longer thought to be in the running for Wonka.
The first big-screen adaptation was made in 1971. Directed by Mel Stuart, it starred Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka, Peter Ostrum as Charlie, and Jack Albertson as Grandpa Joe. It received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Score and Wilder was nominated for a Golden Globe as Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy.
In a second movie version directed by Tim Burton, Willy Wonka was played by Johnny Depp while Charlie was portrayed by Freddie Highmore. They were joined by the likes of David Kelly, Helena Bonham Carter, and Noah Taylor. The 2005 film grossed $475 million worldwide.
The third adaptation has been in development since 2016 after Warner Bros acquired the rights to the character from the Dahl estate.

You can share this post!

Next article
Paula Abdul Takes a Dig at Michael Bolton Over His Babysitting Skills

Related Posts More