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#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 storyWhen Some Critics Reject the Film That’s About Your LifeAfter Hollywood optioned his devastating essay about his dying wife, Matthew Teague vowed the movie would do right by her. The reviews landed like a gut punch.Matthew Teague in Fairhope, Ala.: “I wanted my wife’s legacy and memory to be one of enormous respect.”Credit…Akasha Rabut for The New York TimesJan. 20, 2021Matthew Teague is a journalist who’s traveled to remote corners of the world for stories. He covered C.I.A. operatives in Pakistan, famine in Somalia, double agents in Northern Ireland. But his greatest work may be the essay he wrote in 2015 for Esquire magazine, titled “The Friend.” Teague dedicated some 6,000 words to the arduous two years he spent caring for his wife, Nicole, who learned she had terminal cancer at age 34.The essay told the story of her deterioration and death through the prism of their friendship with Dane Faucheux, a rudderless soul who came to visit the Teague family for Thanksgiving and ended up staying for two years to care for the couple and their two young daughters. Besides winning a National Magazine Award, the essay connected Teague to readers in ways his dramatic reporting from Afghanistan or Sri Lanka never did. They shared their own painful stories with such overwhelming force he was often “struck dumb” by the response. To this day, he receives impassioned, heartbreaking letters.Hollywood, too, quickly came calling.And Teague, now 44, knew the drill. Two of his previous pieces were optioned by various producers, but no movies were ever made. He vowed things would be different this time.What he didn’t account for was just how cruel Hollywood can be when a movie does come together, an experience he is still coming to terms with.First he tried his hand at writing the screenplay himself. When that didn’t work (“I realized I’m too close to this,” he said) he signed on as an executive producer and worked closely with the writer Brad Ingelsby (“The Way Back”) to craft a film that both depicted the realities of death and celebrated the life that came before.Soon a cadre of well-known actors (Casey Affleck, Dakota Johnson, Jason Segel) descended on Fairhope, Ala., to portray the Teagues and Faucheux. Gabriela Cowperthwaite directed the actors in scenes shot in the hospital where Nicole was treated and in a home just three doors down from the Teague residence. (The family still lives in the same house. Teague has remarried and now also has a 3-month-old son named Wilder.)Dakota Johnson and Casey Affleck as the Teagues in “Our Friend.”Credit…Claire Folger/Gravitas VenturesToggling between past and present, the script jumps headfirst into both the nastiness of cancer and the banalities of married life, presenting a portrait of a family that is both completely recognizable and terrifyingly unique. Young women are not supposed to die of cancer in their home while their small children are in the next room.But fueled both by the profound reaction to his essay and by his career as a journalist, Teague was wedded to authenticity.“The gist of it is I wanted my wife’s legacy and memory to be one of enormous respect. I didn’t want to mishandle it,” he said. “And I have a mission to tell the truth about that time and everything that came from it.”There are parts of Teague’s original essay that made it directly onto the screen: the doctor’s words when he revealed Nicole’s diagnosis (“It’s everywhere. Like somebody dipped a paintbrush in cancer and flicked it around her abdomen”), the friendship between Teague and Faucheux, and Nicole’s dying wishes (jumping in a downtown fountain with all her family and friends, becoming the grand marshal in her town’s Mardi Gras parade). “What her life lacked in length, it made up for in height,” Teague wrote in Esquire.The more visceral parts that, in part, made the essay so memorable were omitted: specifically Teague’s role in the grotesque art of wound-packing and the physical horrors that accompanied it.“There are things that I can write about in print, and people can absorb and find to be honest,” he said. “Yet, if you see it onscreen, people are going to throw up their popcorn and run from the theater.”Yet, despite his carefully calibrated work, success in Hollywood is never a guarantee.The 2019 Toronto Film Festival accepted the film and gave it a coveted opening-weekend slot.Seated inside the Princess of Wales Theater, Teague was a flurry of nerves, held together only by sheer will and the help of a friend and fellow journalist, Tom Junod, who was also the subject of a Hollywood movie, “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,” about his unlikely relationship with Fred Rogers.“It surprised me how emotional I felt watching it,” Teague recalled. “But what really took me aback was how emotional the audience was. There were a lot of people feeling a lot of things. So I felt like I had done right by Nicole.”The actress Kristen Stewart was seated behind him, and hearing her sniffle was additional affirmation everything was going to be OK. There were audible sobs from the audience, a standing ovation and a trip to the stage, where the cast answered an earnest flurry of questions. “There was nothing but love from that audience,” Teague said.Johnson, Violet McGraw and Jason Segel as the Teagues’ friend, Dane Faucheux.Credit…Claire Folger/Gravitas VenturesBut when he returned to his hotel room later that night, early reviews from the trade publications landed like a gut punch. The Hollywood Reporter called it “out of touch with the very emotions it desperately tries to evoke.” Variety took issue with turning his “devastating essay” into an “inspirational group hug.” In that review, the critic Peter Debruge commended the actors’ performances but wrote, “So much of the unpleasantness has been scrubbed from the picture, until what remains is precisely the kind of dishonest, sanitized no-help-to-anyone TV-movie version of death that inspired Teague to set the record straight in the first place.”Today Teague still bristles at this criticism. Despite spending years in newsrooms and understanding the role of critics, this particular critique rings as unfair.“I had just come from a room full of people who had never read the essay, didn’t know anything about the essay and just took the movie on its own terms and found it to be very moving,” he said. “So to have my own story used to beat up my own story was really painful.”Cowperthwaite felt the wrath too, saying the early reviews “just took the wind out of me.” But the director, who has made four films including the BAFTA-nominated documentary “Blackfish,” has had more experience handling criticism. “It’s just one of the suck-it-up truths behind our industry,” she said. “It never doesn’t hurt, but I think the longer you are in this creative world you learn to metabolize the pain more quickly.”For Teague, the critiques felt unfair, but more important he was worried about the effect they would have on the fate of the film. Movies like “The Friend” enter festivals with the hopes of securing a hefty distribution deal, and the early trade reviews carry outsize import when studios and streamers are determining what to buy. Would the film find a home with initial critical response so tepid?“I was in a panic because I didn’t know what was going to happen to this thing that is so precious to me,” Teague said. “Are we sunk? Are people going to get a chance to see it?”Reviews did improve. In Vanity Fair, Katey Rich wrote that the film “finds a more thoughtful way through the sort of story that often feels rote onscreen, regardless of how devastating it can be in real life.” Its Rotten Tomatoes score is now hovering around 80 percent fresh. And the producer-financier Teddy Schwarzman said the film left the festival with four offers, though an official deal wasn’t announced until January.Delayed because of the pandemic, the film, now titled “Our Friend,” will now debut Friday in theaters and on demand.Teague is using the experience as a growth opportunity in his career as a journalist. “The glare of public criticism has helped me be more aware of how frightening and helpless a story subject can feel,” he said in a follow-up email. “It’s easy to forget that, even for a writer who prizes empathy. Sometimes even a brief story — or a hastily written review — can break someone’s heart for a long, long time.”Yet, he hasn’t given up on Hollywood, either. The writer recently returned to the screenwriting game and adapted his 2003 GQ article about the over-the-top war games in North Carolina into a mini-series called “Pineland” that is now being shopped around.“It’s not a gentle industry,” he said. “But it has nothing on journalism — my first love — for hard knocks.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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The ‘Ex Machina’ actress and the ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’ star along with Joe Hartley have been added to the panel discussing the up-and-coming movie talents.

Jan 21, 2021
AceShowbiz – Alicia Vikander, Naomi Ackie, and Jo Hartley have joined the BAFTA (British Academy Film Awards) EE Rising Star Award Jury.
The trio met with BAFTA Chair Krishnendu Majumdar over video conference to discuss the 2021 shortlist of new and up-and-coming talent within the movie industry.
Alicia, Naomie, and Jo were accompanied on the panel by a number of industry experts to debate which stars should be considered for the award.
Voting for the accolade will open to the public on March 3 with the BAFTA Ceremony will be held on the later date of 11 April (21) due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

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Previous winners of the awards include James McAvoy, Tom Hardy, Kristen Stewart, and Letitia Wright. It is the only BAFTA category to be voted for by the public and is now in its sixteenth year.
Oscar winner Alicia said, “Being a BAFTA EE Rising Star nominee was a significant marker in my career and it is an honour and delight to deliberate the shortlist for this year’s award alongside the impressive panel of jurors.”
“In what has been a tumultuous year for the industry, watching these new faces has given me hope and excitement for the years of film to come.”
And Naomi added, “It’s been a huge honour for me to deliberate over this year’s hugely talented candidates. It’s really been hard to pick just five actors for this year’s shortlist and I’m certain I’ll be enjoying all these actor’s work for a long time to come.
“The industry is bursting with talent and with the last year that we’ve collectively faced, I’m so grateful projects are still being made. For me and I’m sure many others, art, in its many mediums, is an important and needed respite while we adapt to our new reality.”

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#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‘The Salt of Tears’ Review: More Than Just a Cad’s ProgressIn Philippe Garrel’s film, a young Frenchman juggles three women, hoping to be destroyed by love. He gets his wish, but not in a way he imagined.Souheila Yacoub and Logann Antuofermo in “The Salt of Tears.”Credit…Distrib FilmsJan. 20, 2021, 7:00 a.m. ETThe Salt of TearsNYT Critic’s PickDirected by Philippe GarrelDrama1h 40mFind TicketsWhen you purchase a ticket for an independently reviewed film through our site, we earn an affiliate commission.At age 72, the French filmmaker Philippe Garrel is still making movies about young lovers. Early adulthood is a fecund field for Garrel because, it can be suspected, he feels a strong affinity for its unruly emotions. His characters have a rage to live, and to love, that’s often countered by a romanticization of death.His new feature, “The Salt of Tears,” is at first glance not too much different from most of his other 21st-century pictures, such as “La Jalousie,” nor from movies going back to the beginning of the once avant-garde director’s narrative work, like “L’Enfant Secret” (1979). It’s in black and white, for one thing. However, its widescreen frame isn’t customary in Garrel’s work — but proves apt for this story. Renato Berta’s cinematography lends an expansiveness to its ordinary settings, both urban and semirural.[embedded content]Luc, played by the newcomer Logann Antuofermo, is visiting Paris to apply to a woodworking school; a bit of a country mouse, he quizzes a young woman, Djemila (Oulaya Amamra), at a bus stop for directions and latches on to her, asking for a date. A tentative romance begins, along with sexual negotiations.Once Luc returns to his provincial town, a run-in with a former teen love, Geneviève (Louise Chevillotte), heats up right away. Luc, avid in pursuit, proves craven in commitment. He continues to woo Djemila from afar. He seems to be achieving an all-too-common male “adulthood”: that is, one of deceit and self-serving, interrupted by twinges of conscience that do nothing but flatter his idea of himself.When Geneviève tells Luc she’s pregnant, his reaction is petulant: “You can’t do this to me.” Once he’s back in Paris, it’s satisfying to see a girl he follows into a cafe say, “Back off or I’ll call the police.”Garrel’s movies often feel unstuck in time. In this picture, at a dance club, the characters ecstatically gyrate in a funny, stylized way to a song by the 1970s French band Téléphone. But sharp touches here, like the young woman telling Luc off and the disruption of a multiracial double date by bigots, show the filmmaker’s grasp of the contemporary world.“The Salt of Tears” is quite a bit more than a cad’s progress. There are fleeting shadows of Flaubert in this tale, which Garrel crafted in collaboration with two venerable screenwriters, Jean-Claude Carrière and Arlette Langmann. “He asked himself if he had known love,” the movie’s dispassionate narrator notes at one point; Luc concludes that he has not, because he has yet to be destroyed by the emotion.A romance with a third woman, the free-spirited Betsy (Souheila Yacoub), grinds Luc down a bit, particularly after she invites an old boyfriend of hers to live with them in Luc’s shoe-box apartment. But Luc’s true comeuppance comes from a wholly different relationship, and Garrel’s buildup to it is particularly cunning. The director’s spare style allows him to get maximum emotional impact using relatively conventional effects; when he presents a rare close-up, it not only makes itself felt in the moment, but also sets up the film’s devastating finale.The Salt of TearsNot rated. In French, with subtitles. Running time: 1 hour 40 minutes. Watch on Film Forum.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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The late ‘Welcome to the Party’ rapper plays a basketball rival of the title character (Taylor Takahashi) in the coming-of-age film by the ‘Fresh Off the Boat’ producer.

Jan 20, 2021
AceShowbiz – Pop Smoke landed his first acting gig prior to his untimely passing in February 2020. Now, he’s making his debut as an actor posthumously as the first trailer for the movie “Boogie” has arrived online for fans’ viewing pleasure.
From Eddie Huang, whose 2013 autobiography inspired FOX’s sitcom “Fresh Off the Boat”, the upcoming film tells a coming-of-age story of an Asian young man, Alfred “Boogie” Chin (played by Taylor Takahashi), who struggles to defy the stereotypes and skepticism by his peers and his family’s expectations to reach his dream to become a professional basketball player.
Smoke, whose real name was Bashar Barakah Jackson, appears in several scenes as he portrayed Monk, the basketball rival of main character. The tension between Boogie and Monk is so apparent when they get to meet face-to-face, both inside and outside the court.

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The trailer also offers a glimpse of Boogie’s romantic relationship. “No one believes in an Asian basketball player. It’s a joke in this country. We can cook, clean, count real good but anything else we’re picked last,” Boogie says, while his girlfriend encourages him to fight for himself.
The official synopsis says the film is about “a basketball phenom living in Queens, New York, who dreams of one day playing in the NBA. While his parents pressure him to focus on earning a scholarship to an elite college, Boogie must find a way to navigate a new girlfriend, high school, on-court rivals and the burden of expectation.”
“Boogie” marks a directorial debut for Huang, who also wrote the script. Taylour Paige, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., Pamelyn Chee, Mike Moh, Dave East, Perry Yung and Alexa Mareka also star in the pic, which is scheduled to be released on March 5 by Focus Features.
Back in June 2020, Huang spoke about shooting the movie with Smoke. “A lot of actors just don’t have the depth of emotion and experiences, but because of what Pop’s gone through, he has a tremendous well to draw from, ” Huang told The New York Times. “He gave me a thousand percent. They were tough 16-hour days, overnights, and he shot five overnights in a row. Kids were coming on the bridge to watch us shoot the scenes. We would play Pop’s record. All our actors, the extras, the kids on the bridge watching us shoot scenes, everyone was doing the Woo dance. It was pretty special.”

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The ‘Life as We Know It’ actor is now in negotiations to star opposite Jennifer Lopez in the romantic action comedy after the ‘Call Me by Your Name’ star exited the project due to leaked DM scandal.

Jan 20, 2021
AceShowbiz – Josh Duhamel may be a potential replacement for Armie Hammer in “Shotgun Wedding”. Around a week after the “Call Me by Your Name” star exited the project due to leaked DM scandal, the “Life as We Know It” actor is reported to be in talks to star in the romantic action comedy.
Revealing Josh’s possible appearance in the Lionsgate film was The Hollywood Reporter. The outlet noted that the 48-year-old actor is “now in negotiations” to star opposite Jennifer Lopez, who was “said to have had a say in the process.” It was further claimed that the actor’s name was mentioned early.
The news came after Armie announced his departure from the movie in the wake of his leaked DM scandal. “I’m not responding to these b******t claims but in light of the vicious and spurious online attacks against me, I cannot in good conscience now leave my children for 4 months to shoot a film in the Dominican Republic,” he said in a statement released on Wednesday, January 13.

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The Maxim DeWinter of “Rebecca” went on to add, “Lionsgate is supporting me in this and I’m grateful to them for that.” A representative for the production echoed his statement by saying, “[He] has requested to step away from the film and we support him in his decision.”
Armie’s leaked DMs allegedly contained sexual messages which described cannibalism fantasies. One text read, “I am 100 per cent a cannibal. I want to eat you.” Another message alleged that the father of two had cut “the heart out of an animal” and ate it. Other screenshots include alleged messages from him asking whether he can drink people’s blood.
Supporting the allegations was his ex-girlfriend Courtney Vucekovich. “He said to me he wants to break my rib and barbecue and eat it,” she told Page Six. “[I thought], ‘F**k, that was weird,’ but you never think about it again. He says, ‘I want to take a bite out of you.’ If I had a little cut on my hand he’d, like, suck it or lick it. That’s about as weird as we got… He likes the idea of skin in his teeth.”

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Reality TV star Paige DeSorbo regrets the way she described the British actor based on his skin tone when expressing her support for him to be the next James Bond.

Jan 20, 2021
AceShowbiz – Rege-Jean Page has found himself at the center of controversy albeit having no part in making the mistake. The actor has got an apology from “Summer House” star Paige DeSorbo after she made colorist remark about the Brit stud.
Realizing that the way she “described an actor’s skin tone when describing his appearance” could be interpreted as “offensive” to others, the reality TV star has issued an apology. “I wanted to take time to sincerely apologize to anyone that I may have offended,” the Bravo star said in the Sunday, January 17, episode of her “Giggly Squad” podcast.
“It was not my intention and I recognize [that] what I said was wrong,” she added, before promising to be better. “I am completely committed to learning and growing, so I just wanted to take time today and sincerely apologize for my words from last week. I’m very sorry.”

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Paige’s co-host and fellow Summer House star Hannah Berner also took responsibility for not calling out Paige right away over the remark. “Because we are the Giggly Squad and we are a team, I also want to apologize for not saying anything in the moment,” the 29-year-old said. “But as the Giggly Squad, we own our s**t and we are committed to [continuing] to learn – also to unlearn – and to [continuing] to grow.”
Hannah claimed that she and Paige were on a “journey to educate ourselves” and recommended that their fans, who also want to educate themselves on the issue, watch a documentary called “Dark Girls”. “It’s beautifully made and we can’t just recommend it enough, especially if you want to further educate yourself,” she described it.
Paige previously weighed in on rumors that Rege has been touted by fans as the next James Bond following the success of his Netflix series “Bridgerton”. Showing her support for the actor’s casting, the New York native said in an episode of her podcast he would make a great Bond because “he’s real British [and] he’s light-skinned.”

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The ‘Great Gatsby’ actress talks about the making of her new critically-acclaimed comedy thriller, admitting that she loves filming the violent scenes on the set.

Jan 20, 2021
AceShowbiz – Carey Mulligan enjoyed performing violent scenes in “Promising Young Woman”.
The actress stars as Cassie Thomas in Emerald Fennell’s black comedy and revealed she relished the experience of being violent on the big screen – which has been a rarity in her career.
“It was quite fun. It’s funny, I said to someone the other day – when we were shooting Drive, I always wanted to get out of the elevator and be in a scene,” she told The A.V. Club.
“And I think there was a scene originally at some point in Drive where there was a shootout – I think in the basement – and I was there. And then it got cut, and we didn’t shoot it. So yeah, it was nice to get to – well, it’s always fun to smash up a car with a tire iron if there’s no consequences.”

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In fact, Carey enjoyed being destructive so much that she was left disappointed when a scene where she smashes a car only required three takes.
“I remember being disappointed because we only got to do it three times, because we had three sets of tail lights. I was like, ‘Come on, let’s do another one!’ And Emerald was like, ‘No, no, calm down, buddy,’ ” Carey laughed.
Carey Mulligan will be honoured with the International Star Award at the upcoming Palm Springs International Film Awards for her role in “Promising Young Woman”.
Previous recipients of the International Star Award include Nicole Kidman, Helen Mirren, Saoirse Ronan, and Charlize Theron.
Like last year’s honoree Theron, who went on to gain an Oscar nomination for her role in movie “Bombshell”, Mulligan is among Oscar favorites this year. She has already been named Best Actress at Los Angeles Film Critics Association, San Diego Film Critics Society, Houston Film Critics Society, St. Louis Film Critics Association, and Music City Film Critics Association.

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The creator Steven Knight has confirmed plan to make a big screen adaptation of the hit series after the show bids farewell in the upcoming sixth and final season.

Jan 20, 2021
AceShowbiz – “Peaky Blinders” creator Steven Knight insists he was always planning to end the hit TV series with a movie.
The writer confirmed the show’s upcoming sixth season would be its last on Monday (18Jan21), but tells Deadline there will be a film to tie up loose ends.
“I can say that my plan from the beginning was to end Peaky with a movie,” he says. “That is what is going to happen.”
Knight reveals he has also been approached about a spin-off ballet version of the period series about gypsy gangsters in Birmingham, England – and a West End musical.

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Knight, who picked up a CBE medal in Queen Elizabeth II’s New Year’s Honours list, had hoped to wrap up the show with a seventh season, but the COVID pandemic wrecked his plans.
Production on Season 6 began on Monday.
“Peaky Blinders” stars Cillian Murphy as Tommy Shelby, the head of the family, alongside Helen McCrory, Paul Anderson, Finn Cole, and Aidan Gillen. “The Irishman” star Stephen Graham was also previously revealed to be joining the cast of season six.
Earlier seasons of the BBC show, which airs on Netflix for U.S. audiences, have featured stars like Tom Hardy, Adrien Brody, Sam Neill, and Sam Claflin.
Details of the upcoming season are still scarce, but the creator previously teased, “After the enforced production delay due to the COVID pandemic, we find the family in extreme jeopardy and the stakes have never been higher.”

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