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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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      What’s on TV This Week: ‘Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes’ and ‘House of the Dragon’

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      HBO airs a new documentary. The “Game of Thrones” spinoff wraps up its second season.For those who still enjoy a cable subscription, here is a selection of cable and network TV shows, movies and specials that broadcast this week, July 29-August 4. Details and times are subject to change.Monday30 FOR 30: AMERICAN SON 7 p.m. on ESPN. In 1989, when Michael Chang was 17 years old, he won the French Open and became the youngest person to win a singles major. He was also the only Chinese American playing tennis at that level at the time. This documentary goes through Chang’s family history, his experience as a child of immigrants and his career in tennis.TuesdayJennifer Garner and Mark Ruffalo in “30 Going on 30.”Barry Wetcher/Columbia Pictures13 GOING ON 30 (2004) 8 p.m. on Bravo. Now, being close to 30, I sometimes wish I were 13, but this movie is the opposite of that. It follows Jenna Rink (Jennifer Garner), a 13-year-old girl who wishes she could advance time and be an adult with a boyfriend. Part of her wish comes true, and she wakes up the next morning as a 30 year old. Along the way, she runs into her childhood friend Matt Flamhaff (Mark Ruffalo), and, of course, sparks fly. “As acted by Ms. Garner, the older Jenna has a coltish gawkiness that is never quite sublimated,” Elvis Mitchel wrote in his review for The New York Times. “She plays Jenna as someone who is secretly peeking inside her own head and can’t contain her giddiness.”WednesdayREAL CSI: MIAMI 9 p.m. on CBS. The scripted version of the show, which existed in the very extensive “CSI” universe, ended in 2012. But this reboot brings back the concept as a documentary series that follows real-life detectives in Miami. In the first season finale, the series examines the murder of Jill Halliburton Su, who was discovered her stabbed to death in her bathtub.ThursdaySIMONE BILES AT THE OLYMPICS GAMES 12:15 p.m. on NBC. During the 2020 Olympics, the gymnast Simone Biles withdrew from the finals because she had the “twisties,” a colloquial expression for when a gymnast feels lost in the air, making it difficult and dangerous to attempt a routine. But now, Biles is back and ready to perform in the women’s all-around finals, with events including vault, uneven bars and balance beam over the following days.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

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      Celebrities Support Plan to Reopen Upper West Side Movie Theater

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      Martin Scorsese, Ethan Hawke and John Turturro are all listed as advisers to a new proposal to buy the former Metro Theater, which closed in 2005.After almost two decades of failed attempts to reopen, a landmark Upper West Side movie theater may be resurrected with a plan from a potential new buyer and celebrity support.The independent film producer Ira Deutchman is spearheading the project, along with Adeline Monzier, the U.S. representative of the French film promoter Unifrance and a programmer at the Metrograph, a Lower East Side theater. They have formed the Upper West Side Cinema Center, a nonprofit corporation, whose website lists Martin Scorsese, Ethan Hawke and John Turturro as advisers, along with Bob Balaban, Griffin Dunne and the “American Psycho” director Mary Harron. (They would call it the Metro Cinema Center.)Representatives for Scorsese and Dunne confirmed their involvement.The plan was reported earlier by IndieWire.The proposal includes a five-screen theater dedicated to art house releases, classic film and special events; it would also have an education center and a cafe.Mark Levine, the Manhattan borough president, said he has spoken with two other parties that are talking with the owners about a potential sale, but Deutchman’s proposal is the most fully developed. The estate of the former owner also has yet to engage a broker for the sale, Levine said.The Upper West Side, once a hot spot for art house theaters, is now served by selections at Film at Lincoln Center and large multiplexes. “This is a really underserved audience that is in a community that clearly has an interest in the kinds of movies we’re talking about,” Deutchman said in an interview.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’ Refresher: What to Know Before Seeing ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’

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      The new installment draws on decades of Marvel and X-Men history. It helps to know the back stories ahead of time.In the new “Deadpool & Wolverine,” two beloved superhero franchises will finally come together in a frenzy of irreverent jokes, gory action and Easter eggs. Drawing on decades of movie history and featuring a dizzying array of characters and references to past plots, it’s the kind of film that rewards longtime fans. For those who haven’t seen the X-Men or Deadpool films in a while, here’s what you need to know before watching.What’s Deadpool’s back story?Before he got his own Deadpool movies, Ryan Reynolds debuted the character in the X-Men franchise, appearing in “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” in 2009. The role didn’t go over well with fans — his mouth was sewn shut in the film — and Reynolds wanted a separate movie to explore the character more fully.Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool.20th Century Fox“Deadpool” (2016), the first of three films in the franchise, introduces Wade Wilson, a foul-mouthed mercenary who falls in love with a woman named Vanessa. After getting a diagnosis of terminal cancer, Wilson volunteers for a shadowy program that promises to heal him. There, he is tortured by the villainous Ajax until his body mutates and receives self-healing powers, similar to those possessed by Wolverine. Aided by an elderly sightless woman, Blind Al, and two other X-Men, Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead, Deadpool eventually hunts down Ajax and reconciles with Vanessa.His relationship with Vanessa is short-lived, however, as “Deadpool 2” (2018) opens with her being killed by one of Wilson’s old mercenary targets. Grieving her loss, he joins the X-Men and works to stop a time-traveling soldier named Cable from killing a young mutant. In that film’s mid-credits scene, Wade uses Cable’s time-traveling device to journey through the past, reversing the death of his friends and the murder of Vanessa.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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      María Félix and Cantinflas Star in Gems From Mexico’s Golden Age of Cinema

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      A Lincoln Center retrospective puts the spotlight on midcentury movies aimed at the masses that continue to influence filmmakers.Charitable charlatans, clumsy womanizers, enigmatic dames and even a monster-fighting paladin captured the imagination of Mexico’s audiences during the mid-20th-century golden age of the country’s film industry.An era of prolific production in all genres and of stars with exclusive studio contracts, it rivaled the Hollywood system in the quality and variety of its output. Today, most homegrown Mexican productions struggle to find screens amid the ubiquitous presence of American blockbusters that entice local moviegoers.But from the mid-1930s to the late 1950s, Mexican cinema thrived partly as a consequence of American involvement in World War II. With American resources being allocated to the war effort, Mexican companies saw an opportunity to produce movies for and about their own country that could also travel to other Spanish-speaking territories.Featuring titles largely from this period, the retrospective “Spectacle Every Day: Mexican Popular Cinema” begins Friday at Film at Lincoln Center. Entertainment made for the masses, these movies often set their sights on unlikely heroes and heroines who, despite personality quirks or individual circumstances, exhibited a sturdy moral compass and unshakable pride. They (mostly) do what’s right in the end, even if human weaknesses obstruct their best intentions more than once.For several decades after their original theatrical runs, most of these films endured in the collective Mexican consciousness and continue to influence popular culture through their uninterrupted availability on broadcast TV. As a child in 1990s Mexico City, I caught fragments when visiting my grandmothers for whom the men and women then on the small screen had been larger than life in their youth.In the retrospective, Cantinflas is represented by “The Unknown Policeman” from 1941.Filmoteca UNAMWe 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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      Watch a Reynolds and Jackman Diner Chat in ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’

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      The director Shawn Levy narrates a scene from the latest sequel in the franchise.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.You probably expect plenty of slicing and dicing in “Deadpool & Wolverine.,” also plenty of irreverence. But what you might not expect is a quiet, softer moment of reflection. This scene, narrated by the film’s director, Shawn Levy, offers exactly that.Featuring Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, the sequence takes place in the Void, an environmental dumping ground of sorts where the refuse of various timelines is discarded, and where Deadpool and Wolverine find themselves. They come across an empty retro diner and go inside.“It’s a pause along the journey,” Levy said in an extended interview, “and it’s the first meaty and substantial dialogue scene between the two characters, one of whom is famously motor-mouthed, the other of whom is famously laconic and internal.”“This has always been one of Ryan’s and my favorite scenes from the moment we wrote it,” Levy continued, “because it puts two iconic antiheroes in this incredibly generic trope of the Americana road movie. So the mismatch of these visuals, two superheroes sitting in a booth in a ’50s diner while Patsy Cline plays on the jukebox — that was a thrill.”Read the “Deadpool & Wolverine” review.Sign up for the Movies Update newsletter and get a roundup of reviews, news, Critics’ Picks and more. More

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      5 New Movies Our Critics Are Talking About This Week

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      Whether you’re a casual moviegoer or an avid buff, our reviewers think these films are worth knowing about.Clever quips meet corporate interests.Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman in “Deadpool & Wolverine.”Jay Maidment/20th Century Studios and Marvel‘Deadpool & Wolverine’Directed by Shawn Levy, this sardonic superhero film follows Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) and Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) who, thanks to Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox, now both exist in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as they team up to fight a common enemy.From our review:“Deadpool & Wolverine” is a “Deadpool” movie, which means it’s rude and irreverent, funny and disgusting, weird and a little sweet. Reynolds and Jackman are fun to watch, in part because their onscreen characters contrast so violently with their nice-guy personas offscreen. So much of what the M.C.U. offers feels churned out of the same factory, which makes anything with a distinct personality feel like a relief. But in the end, “Deadpool & Wolverine” is a movie about corporate mergers, about intellectual property, about the ways that the business of Hollywood battles the creative process.In theaters. Read the full review.Critic’s PickSkates right into your heart.From left, Chiron Cilia Denk, Izaac Wang and Montay Boseman in “Didi.”Focus Features/Talking Fish Pictures, LLC.‘Didi’A Taiwanese American, skateboarding-obsessed boy named Chris (Izaac Wang) experiences the trials and triumphs of young adolescence the summer before he enters high school in this semi-autobiographical coming-of-age story from Sean Wang.From our review:Chris is a stand-in for Sean Wang, who built the movie on top of his own memories. So while those recollections are highly specific to the setting and the time period — Chris uses all the AOL Instant Messenger acronyms, chats with the SmarterChild chatbot and checks a friend’s MySpace page to see if he’s still in their Top 8 list — they feel universal, too. When Chris flubs a first kiss, we feel his embarrassment. When he flips out at his mother, and friends look at him askance for his behavior, we feel his confused shame. “Didi” is as much about realizing how others see you as it is about learning to see them for who they really are.In theaters. Read the full review.Bette Midler twerks!From left, Susan Sarandon, Bette Midler, Sheryl Lee Ralph and Megan Mullally in “The Fabulous Four,” directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse.Bleecker Street‘The Fabulous Four’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