Looks like this is the year to attempt some new Christmas movies, with this one and Last Christmas, but these don’t usually work out. When was the last Christmas movie to become an actual perennial? I can’t think of anything past Elf and Love, Actually (both from 2003!). And this one doesn’t look great either (it could be the next Fred Claus- ick), but I do love me some Bill Hader in just about anything, so I may check it out when it comes on Disney+ in November. Yes, this is another straight to streaming movie, with Disney going all in on the service with original films like this and Lady and the Tramp. By the way, I have to assume this ends with Anna Kendrick taking up the reigns as a female Santa, right? There’s no hint of that in the trailer, but it seems obvious that’s the logical conclusion here. Or does she actually reform her brother to save the day in the end? Would it be too controversial for Disney to make Santa Claus a woman?
Edward Norton Finally Brings 'Motherless Brooklyn' to the Screen
Edward Norton directs this film based on a novel that he’s been trying to make for almost twenty years now, and it’s only his second directorial feature, after 2000’s Keeping the Faith, with Ben Stiller and Jenna Elfman (remember that one?). He’s got a good cast at least, and the movie is premiering at Telluride this weekend, so we’ll find out about it pretty soon.
New 'Terminator: Dark Fate' Trailer Brings the Action
I don’t know if I should bother to hope that a Terminator sequel will ever be good again, but this doesn’t look bad, exactly. Maybe the return of producer James Cameron really was all it took to bring the franchise to life again? We’ll see.
Felicity Jones and Eddie Redmayne Go Up in a Hot Air Balloon in 'The Aeronauts'
The former Theory of Everything costars reunite for this movie about aeronautic flight, but there’s something about this that bothers me right off the bat. This is supposedly based on true events, and the Eddie Redmayne character was a real guy who did this stuff, but with a man named Henry Tracey Coxwell as his co-pilot and the scientist who saved his life in the sky. That real life figure has been erased and the Felicity Jones character completely made up out of thin air, presumably so Redmayne can have a woman guiding him at the controls instead. But that never happened! Look, there’s embellishing history and then there’s making shit up and claiming it’s real. There are plenty of impressive and accomplished women in history to do biopics about- I don’t like changing someone else’s historical achievements to put a fictional person in that place instead, especially if you’re going to claim this was based on a true story.
Joaquin Phoenix Tries for the Oscar in Final 'Joker' Trailer
I still can’t believe WB thinks this movie is so good they’re premiering it at all the fall film festivals, but they are, so we’re going to find out just how good it is in a couple of days when it screens at Venice. Guessing it’s all about Phoenix’s performance of course, but can he really be the second actor to win an Oscar for playing the role of the Joker? That seems like a long shot, especially for a movie directed by Todd Philips (Old School, The Hangover).
Meryl Streep Stars in Steven Soderbergh's 'The Laundromat'
This movie is about the investigation into The Panama Papers and it looks like it’s trying to be something like The Big Short or Vice (I guess the Adam McKay approach to political stories has been pretty influential). Looks kind of light actually, but Meryl gets nominated for pretty much everything she does, so look out for that. This is a Netflix movie but it’s premiering at Venice in a couple of days, coming to a few theaters on Sept 27th and then streaming on October 18th (the theater dates are about Oscar consideration).
D23 Shows a New Look at 'The Rise of Skywalker'
I guess I’m gonna check out the finale of this trilogy, but this series has not done anything to endear me to these characters. I don’t care if Rey is really a Skywalker or not, or what happens to Finn and Poe or whether Kylo Ren is defeated. And frankly, playing all those old clips from the original movies at the beginning of this only makes me want to watch those, because they were the only ones worth watching in this entire series.
Latest 'Lucy in the Sky' Trailer Shows Off Natalie Portman in Breakdown Mode
I don’t think I realized this movie was based on the real story of astronaut Lisa Nowak, who became a criminal and kidnapper due to her affair with a fellow astronaut in 2007. Anyone else remember that story? I vaguely remember it being in the tabloids at the time. This will premiere at TIFF next month and then come out on October 4th.
Adam Driver Uncovers the Truth in 'The Report'
I missed this trailer a few days ago, but this was another Sundance hit that’s coming out in November. It has an awards season release date, but Amazon is choosing to release it on their streaming service just two weeks after it comes out. That tends not to work out well for awards hopefuls, but it looks like Amazon is changing up their distribution strategy this year. We’ll see if it pays off.
'Lady and the Tramp' Gets the Disney Live-Action Treatment
Ugh. Lady and the Tramp is like my third favorite Disney movie ever, so of course I’m not cool with it being remade, but if they were set on doing this, is there any reason that they have to use CG for the dogs? I seem to remember a lot of movies about dogs in history that used real, trained ones and they worked great. Do their mouths have to move? Why can’t they do the Homeward Bound thing, where the voices are there but just inside their heads or something? There are some real dogs in this trailer, but the up close stuff is weird and obviously fake and I hate it. This story could have easily been done 100% “live-action” like they advertise. This will be one of the first features coming to the new Disney Plus streaming service though, so no theaters for this one.
Charlize Theron and Nicole Kidman are Megyn Kelly and Gretchen Carlson in 'Bombshell'
I’m wary about this movie, which is going to be about how Megyn Kelly and Gretchen Carlson took down Roger Ailes for sexual harassment, not because what they did wasn’t a good thing, but because I have a really hard time believing the makers of this movie are going to show their heroines, particularly Megyn Kelly, for the uber racist that she is. And she IS. Undoubtedly. If you’ve ever seen any clip of her taking about race, the vile hatred and white supremacy spewing out of her mouth is sickening. And we all know that anybody who would work for that network in the first place condones and is complicit with promoting and selling constant 24/7 racism. But I have a feeling that will be ignored entirely since this story is again, about the other defining trait of that evil network, which is the misogyny and rampant culture of sexual harassment behind the scenes. But I find it difficult to root for a person who only wants to do their job of promoting racism free from sexual harassment. One the other hand, you do have to tip your hat to Charlize Theron, who eerily resembles Megyn Kelly here- she’s pursing her mouth in just the right way.
Peter Fonda 1940-2019
Peter Fonda has passed away after a battle with lung cancer at the age of 79. Son to Henry and brother to Jane, he was part of a Hollywood dynasty and one of the key figures in the counterculture revolution of the New Hollywood of the 60’s and 70’s. After guest starring on many television series like Wagon Train and The Defenders, he started making counterculture movies with director Roger Corman, films like The Wild Angels (1966) and The Trip (1967), which was written by Jack Nicholson. Then he produced, co-wrote and starred in 1969’s Easy Rider with Dennis Hopper, who also directed, and which became one of the defining movies of the decade. His original screenplay was nominated for an Academy Award, as was his buddy Jack Nicholson for Supporting Actor. His track record as an action star and director was a bit spotty throughout the 70’s, but he had a comeback with 1997’s Ulee’s Gold, for which he was Oscar-nominated for Best Actor.
Trailer for Easy Rider:
