News

Kyra Sedgwick and Kevin Bacon are taking the title of their next film to heart. They’re set to direct the horror-comedy project “Family Movie” and star alongside their children, Travis and Sosie Bacon.

The foursome will produce for Mixed Breed Films alongside Norman Golightly at Dark Castle Entertainment. Neon International will represent the foreign rights and introduce it at AFM this week while CAA Media Finance will represent the U.S. rights.

The film, based on a screenplay by Dan Beers (“Premature”), follows an eclectic but tight-knit family of filmmakers who suddenly find themselves in a real-life horror movie when a body turns up on the set of their latest low-budget slasher. As the production spirals comically out of control, they realize the only solution to keep filming is to cover up the murder, by any means necessary.

“There may not be a more compelling Hollywood family than the Bacons,...

In an industry where keeping the magic alive can often feel like a tightrope walk above a bottomless chasm, Shawn Levy’s Deadpool & Wolverine has pulled off a feat more astounding than pulling a rabbit out of a hat. The sequel to Deadpool 2 (2018) has hit box office milestones that have breathed new life into Marvel Studios.

Starring Ryan Reynolds as the mercurial Deadpool and Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, the film has overwhelmed audiences & critics alike, reportedly grossing a jaw-dropping $495 million domestically. And this has propelled it past the $1 billion mark globally.

Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds in Deadpool 3 | Marvel Studios

With an indomitable duo like Reynolds and Hugh Jackman shouldering the narrative, the film’s creative freedom & sheer charm have set a new gold standard. And thus, we can’t help but wonder if other MCU films like The Marvels and Eternals might’ve hit it out of the park,...

Tubi, Fox’s free streaming service, has announced its list of August titles. The Tubi August 2024 slate features new Tubi Originals and numerous action, art house, Black cinema, comedy, documentary, drama, horror, kids and family, romance, sci-fi and fantasy, thriller, and Western titles.

As a leading ad-supported video-on-demand service, the company engages diverse audiences through a personalized experience and the world’s largest content library: over 200,000 movies and TV episodes, a growing collection of Tubi Originals, and nearly 250 Fast channels.

You can watch the Tubi August 2024 lineup for free on Android and iOS mobile devices, Amazon Echo Show, Google Nest Hub Max, Comcast Xfinity X1, and Cox Contour.

You can also watch the service on connected television devices such as Amazon Fire TV, Vizio TVs, Sony TVs, Samsung TVs, Roku, Apple TV, Chromecast, Android TV, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and on the Tubi site.

Tubi Originals

Documentary

Defying Death:...

It's a family affair for Kyra Sedgwick, Kevin Bacon, and their daughter Sosie Bacon. While chatting with Variety for a new profile piece, Sedgwick revealed that she and her husband plan to make, and star, in a horror movie together alongside their daughter, who is best known for her exemplary performance in Parker Finn's 2022 horror film Smile.

The Emmy-winning actress fans know from shows and movies like The Closer and Phenomenon says she and Bacon want to co-direct a horror film together, but apparently, it's harder to get approved for a dual-directing credit from the Director's Guild of America than one might think, even for a couple with as much star power as these two.

She doesn't seem too worried about it, clarifying that they will figure it out when the time comes, though also admitting that she's strategic and wonders "if more people will see this if it's...

Exclusive: SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher, Kyra Sedgewick, Frontline’s Raney Aronson-Rath and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’s Alex Borstein will among those honored at the New York Women In Film & Television Muse Awards later this month.

Aronson-Rath, editor-in-chief and executive producer of PBS Frontline, whose doc 20 Days in Mariupol won an Oscar Sunday, will receive the Enid Roth Award for Excellence in Journalism. The Made in NY Award from Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment will be presented to actress, writer, and producer and star of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Alex Borstein.

Honorees also include actress Critics Choice Award and BAFTA Rising Star Award-nominated actress Millicent Simmonds (A Quiet Place), who will receive the Loreen Arbus Changemaker Award; Michèle Stephenson (Going To Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project), a filmmaker, artist and author, awarded the Nancy Malone Directing Award.

Cardinal, and Latasha Gillespie,...

"It's the devil coming to get you." A festival trailer has debuted for this indie thriller titled Light Falls, the latest feature film directed by the Greek cinematographer Phedon Papamichael. It's premiering soon at the 2023 Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival in Estonia (aka PÖFF) as a world premiere in the Critics' Picks Competition section. Most film fans will recognize Papamichael from his acclaimed work as a Dp on movies like Poison Ivy, Cool Runnings, Phenomenon, Patch Adams, Sideways, 3:10 to Yuma, The Descendants, The Monuments Men, Ford v Ferrari, and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny recently. His new film is described as "an outstanding analysis of the divided world we live in." A young lesbian couple is vacationing on a Greek island and they decide to explore an abandoned hotel. An accident and a clash of different worlds set off a spiral of violence and revenge. Starring model...

Director was prevented from travelling to the festival in person by Iranian authorities.

Iranian director Ali Ahmadzadeh‘s Critical Zone has won the Locarno Film Festival top prize, the Golden Leopard.

The Iranian-German co-production, secretly shot on the streets of Tehran without official permission, follows a man driving through Tehran’s underworld with his dog, dealing drugs, healing troubled souls and discovering seeds of resistance.

Director Ahmadezadeh, who was prevented from travelling to Locarno to present his film in person, had faced pressure from the Iranian authorities ahead of the festival to withdraw his film from the competition and was...

Babyface squeezed several decades worth of hits and classics into his career-spanning set on the latest installment of NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series. While the legendary singer, songwriter, and producer took the lead on a few songs, he also got some help from an all-star trio of vocalists, Chanté Moore, Tank, and Avery Wilson.

Babyface opened his set with a pair of early gems: 1987’s “Two Occasions,” a song he co-wrote and co-produced for his R&b outfit the Deele, followed by 1990’s “Whip Appeal,” the hit second single from his second album,...

Paris-based sales agent to launch film at Cannes market.

Paris-based Luxbox has boarded Ali Ahmadzadeh’s Iranian-German co-production Critical Zone, set in the underworld of Tehran, and will kick off sales at the upcoming Cannes market.

The Persian-language feature follows a man driving through Tehran’s underworld with his dog, dealing drugs and healing troubled souls.

Ahmadzadeh produces alongside Sina Ataeian Dena in co-production with Germany’s Counterintuitive film.

Ahmadzadeh made his feature debut in 2013 with Kami’s Party, followed by Atomic Heart that premiered in Berlin in 2014 and 2017’s Phenomenon (Padideh).

The filmmaker was arrested in Tehran last year...

Tubi originals for April include “Dead Hot,” co-starring Vanessa Hudgens and Gg Magree. They play witchcraft students who long to connect with the spirit world. But when a ghost hunt goes wrong, they head to Salem, Massachusetts, for a masterclass.

“A Good Man,” another streamer original, lands on April 13. A man enters a new relationship in the aftermath of his wife’s affair. But soon, things go awry when he notices familiar signs of betrayal.

The four movies that comprise “The Scorpion King” arrive April 1. A prequel and spinoff of “The Mummy,” the first movie, in 2002, is a sorcery action-adventure film starring starring Dwayne Johnson, Steven Brand, Kelly Hu, Grant Heslov, and Michael Clarke Duncan. An evil ruler wants to conquer the tribes of the desert.

Jim Carrey fans will want to revisit the two “Ace Ventura” comedies. Carrey shows off his gift for physical comedy, while creating a wacky...

Netflix unveiled its slate of Polish-language series and films due to hit its service in 2023 in a “See What’s Next” event in Warsaw on Tuesday.

Since arriving in Poland in 2016, the platform has steadily ramped up production of local content and has gotten behind 40 original local Polish films and series to date

The 2023 offering is topped by eight Polish features, including four new titles: Kiss, Kiss!, Phenomenon, Soulcatcher and Squared Love Everlasting, as well as three series Absolute Beginners, Infamy and Feedback, about an alcoholic former rock star and adapted from the Polish best-seller of the same name by Jakub Żulczyk.

Spanning romantic comedies, thrillers and sci-fi and coming-of-age dramas, the feature slate taps into a raft of popular local acting talent.

Kiss, Kiss! features top actor Mateusz Kościukiewicz as a womanizer who decides to test his powers of seduction by pursuing a woman who is...

John Travolta is an award-winning American actor, singer, producer, and dancer. He achieved international stardom following his leading role in the hit musical film Saturday Night Fever (1977), which earned him a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. His subsequent box office successes include Grease (1978), Pulp Fiction (1994), Get Shorty (1995), Face/Off (1997), Swordfish (2001) and Be Cool (2005). His extensive film credits also include films such as Urban Cowboy (1980) and Phenomenon (1996). Other notable performances include the romantic comedy film Look Who’s Talking (1989) and its two sequels, as well as the comedic films Primary Colors (1998) and Hairspray (2007).

John Travolta. Depostiphotos

Throughout his career, Travolta has won numerous accolades including one Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie for the television biopic The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story (2016). Additionally, he was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actor for Saturday Night Fever and Pulp Fiction,...

In this edition of Star Wars Bits:

"The Mandalorian" returns."Star Wars: Visions" updates."Star Wars: The Bad Batch" reviews and breakdowns."Star Wars Galaxy of Creatures" is back.Hasbro's latest "Star Wars" announcements.And more!The Mandalorian

Lucasfilm released "Phenomenon," a new video featuring "The Mandalorian" cast and crew discussing the impact of the series, along with what we can expect to see in season 3, which begins March 1 on Disney+.

While you're at it, check out "Hyperspace," a new "Star Wars" Disney+ spot that brought a tear to my eye...

Star Wars: The Bad Batch

Star Wars Explained has a review of "Tribe," the sixth episode of season 2 of "Star Wars: The Bad Batch."

Also, AhsokaTanoFan shares their thoughts on the most recent episode.

Star Wars: Visions

This week, Lucasfilm announced that volume 2 of the animated anthology series "Star Wars: Visions" will premiere May 4, 2023, a.k.a. Star Wars Day,...

“The Summer I Turned Pretty” Season 2 at Amazon has cast Kyra Sedgwick and Elsie Fisher in recurring roles.

Variety exclusively reported that the show based on Jenny Han’s book series of the same name was renewed for a second season before Season 1 had premiered. Season 2 is currently in production but no premiere date has yet been set.

“The Summer I Turned Pretty” is described as a multigenerational drama that hinges on a love triangle between one girl and two brothers, the ever-evolving relationship between mothers and their children, and the enduring power of strong female friendships. It is a coming-of-age story about first love, first heartbreak, and the magic of that one perfect summer.

It stars Lola Tung, Jackie Chung, Rachel Blanchard, Christopher Briney, Gavin Casalegno, Sean Kaufman, Alfredo Narciso, and Minnie Mills, with Colin Ferguson and Tom Everett Scott.

Sedgwick is known for her Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning...

When you’re a streaming service, there’s only one way to celebrate the New Year. And that’s by IP mining to bring back a franchise that had no business in coming back!

With its list of new releases for January 2022, Hulu is raiding CBS’s closet and premiering How I Met Your Father, a continuation of the sitcom How I Met Your Mother. Complaints about unnecessary rebooting aside, perhaps its worth giving the Hillary Duff starring series a chance. If nothing else, telling a story about 2022 from a future perspective might play well.

Aside from Himyf, there aren’t any other Hulu original series to speak of. Instead, Hulu is opting to once again beef up its film library. January 1 sees the arrival of Master and Commander, Seven, and a whole bunch of Star Treks. Hulu will also be the streaming home of some recently released film Indies,...

The following contains spoilers for Money Heist season 4.

If there’s one thing that can be said about Money Heist, it’s that it’s been a wild ride. Even the way the show got popular was crazy. The original Spanish series, La Casa de Papel (literally translated as “the house of paper”), was cancelled after one season. But when Netflix picked it up, the show blew up. It blew up like an exploding bank vault with a resounding boom that was heard all around the world. The show became the most watched non-English series on Netflix, not to mention a global symbol of resistance.

Calling the upcoming bulk of episodes the fifth season can be a bit confusing, as the show’s story structure is different from the traditional TV model. Money Heist masters the cliffhanger, and all the season divisions just intensify that. There have only been two...

If there’s one thing that Money Heist has mastered, it’s the cliffhanger. The cancelled Spanish series that was reborn on Netflix took the world by storm, sparking a global revolution that has so many nail-biting edge-of-your-seat twists and turns that it’s nearly impossible not to binge it all once you’re hooked. The show is a relentless rollercoaster ride and oh so addictive. You never know who is going to live and who is going to die. In fact, not even the actors don’t know.

“It’s impossible, really difficult to know that because it’s also something they established from the start,” Úrsula Corberó (who plays Tokyo), said during the show’s appearance at the 2021 Television Critics Association summer press tour.. “Alex Pina, he’s a last-minute writer, and he’s obsessed as if this was linked with some kind of inspiration. I think it...

You can watch, but you may not want to try these at home. Heist, Netflix’s new crime-docuseries, makes it look very tempting to go for the big money grab. Whether it comes in paper or bottles, bushels or barrels, cash is king, and it is fun to be a kingpin. Living large on illicit funds is a blast. Pursuit is inevitable. Capture is probable. Jail is doable. Especially if there is some money stashed away.

The interesting thing is, of all of the cases investigated in the show, the only criminal who might not have something saved for retirement is the one who got away with the crime and turned herself in. Told by the people who pulled them off, Heist is a cautionary tale that throws caution to the wind. The docuseries was produced by Dirty Robber, it chronicles the events of three famous modern heists. Each case gets two episodes,...

1091 Pictures has acquired worldwide rights to “Varginha: The Roswell of Brazil,” James Fox’s follow-up to “The Phenomenon.”

The film is another exploration of potential extraterrestrial encounters, this one centered on a series of events in 1996 when citizens of Varginha, Brazil, reported seeing one or more strange creatures and a UFO crash. According to the description from the studio, a number of locals, including a group of girls ranging in age from 14-21, had a close encounter with a being described as about 4 feet tall, with brown oily skin, a large head and huge red eyes. The town of Varginha was cordoned off by military and emergency response teams and two creatures were captured. Local military policeman Marco Cherese died under mysterious circumstances after allegedly handling one of the creatures.

Fox’s documentary features interviews with key eyewitnesses, experts and officials including nuclear physicist and professional ufologist Stanton Freidman,...

Exclusive: We have learned that Bruce Willis and John Travolta are starring together again for the first time in 27 years in the Chuck Russell-directed action pic Paradise City. Production starts this Monday in Maui, Hawaii.

Willis plays renegade bounty hunter, Ryan Swan, who must carve his way through the Hawaiian crime world to wreak vengeance on the kingpin, played by Travolta, who murdered his father. I’m told the project is billed as being similar to Miami Vice but with bounty hunters instead of cops. Thai actress and model Praya Lundberg has landed the lead female role.

Though Paradise City technically reps the fourth time that Willis and Travolta are billed on a movie together, they only worked onscreen in the 1994 Oscar-winning $214M-grossing Quentin Tarantino movie Pulp Fiction respectively as boxer Butch Coolidge and mob guy Vincent Vega. Check out their scene below from that pic. Prior to that...

Dmx was a larger-than-life force in rap music at the turn of the millennium. The Yonkers, New York, rapper, who died April 9th at age 50 after being hospitalized with a heart attack days earlier, burst onto the scene in the Nineties with one of the most distinctive voices on the radio — a commanding presence on the mic, from his earliest guest appearances to the five straight multi-platinum albums he released starting in 1998. Effortlessly balancing raw charisma with hit-making savvy, X had a major impact on the sound and direction of an era in hip-hop,...

After the eighth episode of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” Season 13, the number of queens hoping to win the crown is still stuck at nine. That’s right, nobody was sent home this week. Lala Ri was the last person to be eliminated, joining this trio of contestants no longer in the competition: Kahmora Hall, Joey Jay and Tamisha Iman. Of the remaining Top 9 queens, who are You personally rooting for to be told “you’re a winner, baby” by host RuPaul Charles? Vote in our poll below and then defend your choice in the comments section.

See‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ winner predictions: Olivia Lux is coming for Symone’s crown

The A-team

Back in week one, Ru divided the girls into two groups based on whether they won (the A-Team) or lost (the Pork Chops) their initial lip sync match-ups. The remaining five A-Team champs still in the competition are Symone,...

This season on “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” it apparently pays off to win early. In the premiere episode, host RuPaul Charles separated the queens into two groups based on whether they won or lost their initial head-to-head lip syncs. The champs celebrated by calling themselves the “A-Team,” while the losers entered the Pork Chop Lounge and had to vote out one of their own on the spot. The two groups reunited weeks later, which is when the Season 13 competition truly began. Three queens have been eliminated so far, but none of them have been from the original “A-Team.” Hmm, is there a Pork Chop curse?

See ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ winners list

Kahmora Hall was the first contestant to sashay away. She entered the Pork Chop Lounge in the first episode after losing her lip sync of “Lady Marmalade” to Tina Burner. She was one of the safe queens in the third episode,...

Will the sixth episode of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” Season 13 be the end of the road for Tamisha Iman? This 49-year-old drag legend is predicted to go home at the end of this disco-themed episode, which airs February 5 on VH1. Per Gold Derby’s predictions, she has overwhelming 24/25 odds to get the chop, just ahead of Elliott with 2 Ts at 18/5 odds and Lala Ri at 7/1 odds. Do you agree or disagree with the predictions of your fellow “Drag Race” fans? Be sure to make or update your picks before Friday’s episode.

See ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ winners list

Tamisha has had a whirlwind journey so far on the reality TV show. She was originally cast as part of the 12th season, but had to back out when she was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer. Thankfully, she pulled through and RuPaul Charles and co. invited her back for Season 13, which was filmed...

Based On The Global Video Game Series Phenomenon Milla Jovovich Stars In Available On Digital February 16 On 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray™ and DVD March 2 Includes Deleted Scenes And A Look At The Process Of Bringing Game’S Iconic Characters, Weapons, Monsters And Action To The Big Screen Synopsis Behind our world, there is another: …

The post Monster Hunter Available On Digital 2/16, On 4K Uhd, Blu-ray & DVD 3/2 appeared first on Horror News | Hnn.

After three episodes of a “RuPaul’s Drag Race” season 13 without a permanent elimination, we were excited to see the melodrama officially start with all 13 queens finally being in the werk room together to compete for the world’s most coveted crown. The reunion of the winning queens with the losing queens caused some friction among a few girls and ultimately led to one of them succumbing to challenge of the multi-faceted competition.

Last week the losing group from the season premiere challenge faced off in three runway walks and a group performance of Ru’s song “Phenomenon.” Denali and Rosé faced off in a “lip sync for the win” as the top two with Denali getting her first win under her belt. This week marked the first time the entire cast would be together and compete in a mini and maxi challenge in order to determine the first queen eliminated.

Season 13 of Ru Paul’s Drag Race has been a rollercoaster of a series so far with shocking lip-syncs in the opening episode, to the inclusion of the franchise first-ever trans man… and the exciting journey continues! We were informed in the previous episode that this week the show will focus on the group B queens (we are not calling them the losers circle because that’s mean!) but they are the queens who did not win the lip-syncs in the opening episode almost three weeks ago! In terms of the show, the queens have been sat in the pork chop lounge for just under two episodes now so it’s about time they were given a chance to showcase their skills and some of them did this and more! It is clear to me that the show is trying to mould Eliott (with 2 ts) into this boiling pot of drama,...

The first and second episodes of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” concluded with shocking non-eliminations that showed the queens that RuPaul Charles ain’t playing around this season–she is ready to stress them out, wear them out and do everything she can to make them turn it out. By the end of the premiere the set of 13 queens were divided into two groups based on first impression lip syncs: a Winner’s Circle and the girls they beat, the Pork Chop Queens.

Last week the winners group faced off in three runway walks and a group performance of Ru’s song “Condragulations.” Olivia Lux and Symone faced off in a “lip sync for the win” as the top two with Symone edging out to grab the first solo win of the season. This week we expected the losing group to return to the Werk Room for their chance to do the same,...

Herstory is repeating itself on RuPaul's Drag Race Season 13 Episode 3.

Just like the lip-sync winners before them, the Pork Chop Loading Bay queens faced off in a team girl group challenge as well. The week is almost a mirror image to RuPaul's Drag Race Season 13 Episode 2. Right down to the runway Mini Challenge.

No one went home. Fashionable looks were served. Unfortunately, it all felt very expected.

This isn't the first time Drag Race cloned the same round two weeks in a row. Let's not forget the split premieres for RuPaul's Drag Race Season 12 Episode 1 and RuPaul's Drag Race Season 12 Episode 2.

That premiere covered the same structure with a fashion runway and a group challenge.

The difference here, however, is that the queens are now in their third week of the competition. Seriously, we've made it three rounds without a queen going home!

Split premieres create a great opportunity for...

Like Gumby strapped to one of those Midieval torture racks, it seems there is no limit to how long RuPaul’s Drag Race is capable of stretching out the first elimination of Season 13.

For the third consecutive week, Friday’s episode ended without a single queen going home, as the “losers” from the premiere returned to the werkroom for another chance to prove their worth before the almighty judges’ panel.

More from TVLineDrag Race Recap: The Season 13 Twists Continue, Including [Spoiler]'s Return!RuPaul's Drag Race Season 13 Premiere: Which Queen Deserves the Pork Chop?RuPaul's Drag Race Season 13 Video: Watch the First...

“After We Collided” is the big winner this week. It is #1 at both Apple TV and Google Play, and #2 at FandangoNow (where its $6.99 price on the revenue-based chart put it at a disadvantage). Its Friday debut precluded Spectrum.

This is the sequel to 2019 college romance “After,” which grossed $12 million domestic and $57 million overseas. “After We Collided” also had a theatrical release this weekend, but earned only $420,000 at theaters willing to play day and date. This opened weeks ago in international theaters (including Canada), where it’s earned over $46 million. It’s a sign of how foreign results are dwarfing domestic ones (albeit with minimal competition).

Briarcliff opted to go at a non-premium VOD price and this clicked right away. “After” cost $14 million; figure this is more. It’s recouped a nice share of its cost overseas, and now can collect 70 percent of its domestic VOD from what appears to be a strong response.

Given that the summer blockbuster season has been a bust as theater chains shut down while cases of the deadly coronavirus rose. Studios continue push openings of highly anticipated films into the fall, next year and beyond. Warner Bros. seems determined to open “Tenet,” Christopher Nolan‘s new big-screen spectacular that involves a secret agent who is tasked to stop World War III. For now, it is expected to play in selective cities and auditoriums in the U.S. starting on September 3.

But more and more titles are turning to VOD or streaming services as options to serve a cinema-starved audience, including Spike Lee‘s “Da 5 Bloods,” Judd Apatow‘s “The King of Staten Island” and “Greyhound,” a war film starring Tom Hanks.

The lack of multiplex visits during these steamy summer days has made me nostalgic for the when I was a movie critic and basked in the...

Social distancing and sheltering in place has unleashed a wave of creativity among the confined. CBS is spotlighting it in a one-hour special, #Homevideos: A Global Phenomenon, that will be broadcast in May and hosted by Cedric the Entertainer.

The show features viral home video moments, featuring the full spectrum of the best videos during our country’s collective experience together. The show promises they range “from the humorous to the heartwarming to the most inspirational.”

More from DeadlineGolf Aims To Lead Pro Sports Comeback With PGA Tour Event In June On CBSTom Hanks Details Coronavirus Symptoms, Including "Bad Body Aches"Coronavirus In L.A. County: 81 New Deaths Reported, Highest Single-Day Total Since Outbreak Began

Cedric the Entertainer will guide viewers through video moments from our communal quarantine, providing an entertaining and uplifting snapshot of our world at an unprecedented time. For each video selected as part of the show,...

Although it may be difficult to believe, it's been nearly half a century since Steven Spielberg's Jaws (based on Peter Benchley's novel of the same name) took a bite out of theaters and forever changed cinema as we know it. To celebrate the movie's latest milestone, Universal is releasing Jaws on 4K Ultra HD in a special 45th anniversary limited edition on June 2nd, and we've been provided with the full list of bonus features fans can look forward to:

Press Release: Universal City, California, April 17, 2020 – In 1975, acclaimed director Steven Spielberg created the first ever summer blockbuster film and his first big hit, Jaws, the iconic and terrifying action-thriller that still makes audiences afraid to go in the water. Winner of three Academy Awards®, including Best Original Score, Jaws has become a cinematic touchstone for generations of moviegoers and one of the greatest and most influential films of all time.

One of the most anticipated movies right now is Army of the Dead, directed by Zack Snyder, who has worked on some of the most popular films of the decade including Justice League, Batman V Superman, Man of Steel and 300. He is a well established and a much sought after professional in the industry. Snyder has been on hiatus for a while because his latest and probably the most buzz-worthy film, Justice League got him into quite some trouble. The short version of the story is that midway through the film, Snyder had to leave the production and was replaced by the director that took the movie in a completely different direction. This has caused quite an outrage among the fans who are now demanding the release of the Snyder cut, and paying extra money to see this cut wherever it is available. Because of the hectic response, he...

Exclusive: Entertainment One has set Jon Turteltaub to direct Insane, a film based on “Crazy” Eddie Antar, the late consumer electronics king who wound up serving six years in prison for perpetrating one of the greatest securities frauds in history. eOne will finance the project. 21 scribe Peter Steinfeld wrote the script. The project was set by eOne late last year, with an exclusive rights deal has been made with Crazy Eddie’s cousin and co-conspirator Sam E. Antar. Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, Peter Steinfeld, DeShawn Schneider, Mandy Stein will produce with Sam E. Antar serving as an Associate Producer.

Turteltaub’s credits include most recently the sleeper hit The Meg, Last Vegas, National Treasure, Phenomenon, While You Were Sleeping and Cool Runnings.

Those of a certain age who grew up in the New York metropolitan area had the discount appliance/stereo/TV chain Crazy Eddie burned into their retinas in...

On June 27th 1997, John Woo, director of Hong Kong action classics such as Hard Boiled (1992) and A Better Tomorrow (1986), released his third Hollywood film, following the relative success of Van-Damme vehicle Hard Target (1993), and nuclear-weapon-nonsense, Broken Arrow (1996). It was called Face/Off, and featured the twin-handed heavyweights of Oscar winner-come-blockbuster action hero Nicolas Cage, and Vincent Vega comeback kid, John Travolta, in a high-concept thriller so ridiculously brilliant, that any subsequent serpents on planes, or Jason Statham dicky-ticker actioners, feel tame by comparison.

To celebrate its premiere this Friday, the 19th of April on the Sony Movie Channel UK we look back at the two-faced legendary action movie.

Time appears to have consigned Face/Off to the so-bad-its-good section of the VHS library, which is the kind of dastardly act that Caster Troy would approve of. However, contextualising it for the ground-breaking genre film that it was, is important in underlining...

Soundtrack songs used to be all the rage at the Grammys. But none have won Record of the Year since “My Heart Will Go On” by Celine Dion, the inescapable hit from “Titanic.” That was in 1999 — exactly 20 years ago. But 2019 looks like it could be a renaissance for movie music. “Shallow” by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper from “A Star is Born” is nominated for Record of the Year, and it’s one of the top contenders to win.

Movie tunes had their Grammys golden age in the 1990s, when half of the Record of the Year winners were from feature films: Eric Clapton‘s “Tears in Heaven” from “Rush” (1993), Whitney Houston‘s “I Will Always Love You” from “The Bodyguard” (1994), Seal‘s “Kiss from a Rose” from “Batman Forever” (1996), Clapton’s “Change the World” from “Phenomenon” (1997), and the aforementioned “Titanic” love ballad at the end of the decade.

Sign...

For moviegoers, August is no longer the total disreputable dumping ground it once was. Yet if you want to know whether that phenomenon known as the “August movie” is alive and kicking, look no further than “The Meg.” It’s a big, crass, brainlessly expensive B-movie leftover all dressed up to look like the real deal in blockbuster goods. In other words, it’s a film that has all the August qualities. It takes a cast of flatly “likable” second-tier actors and hitches them to the lure of a special-effects creature that, in theory, will prove to be a crowd-pleasing attraction. More than that, the whole thing feels like a copy of a copy. “The Meg” is “Jaws” on dumbed-down steroids, and proud of it. It’s the sort of movie that people used to go to when they went to movies for the air conditioning.

Now they’ll go...

In today’s film news roundup, Dan Gilroy is honored by the Austin Film Festival, CBS Films moves forward on its ship cruise comedy, and Good Deed buys SXSW title “Shotgun.”

Honor

The Austin Film Festival has named screenwriter Tony Gilroy as the 2018 recipient of the Distinguished Screenwriter Award.

Previous honorees of this award have included Lawrence Kasdan, Kenneth Lonergan, Nancy Meyers, and Caroline Thompson.

Gilroy’s credits include the 2007 thriller “Michael Clayton,” which earned him Oscar nominations for directing and original screenplay; writing the first three Bourne films and co-writing and directing the fourth film in the franchise (“The Bourne Legacy”); co-writing the screenplay for “Rouge One: A Star Wars Story”; and producing and writing the political thriller “Beirut,” starring Jon Hamm and Rosamund Pike.

The festival also announced that “Beverly Hills Cop” writer Daniel Petrie, Jr. will receive the festival’s second Heart of Film Award for his...

Savannah – Kyra Sedgwick knows what she wants. The longtime actor best known for her roles on TNT’s “The Closer,” “Something To Talk About,” “Phenomenon” and, most recently, “The Edge of Seventeen” had revelation while making her directorial debut on “Story of a Girl” which aired in Lifetime in July. Sitting down to record an episode of the 4 Quadrant podcast (which you can listen to below or on iTunes) at the 2017 Savannah Film Festival, Sedgwick made it clear if she had the choice she’d just direct.

Continue reading Kyra Sedgwick Wants To Direct Full Time And Isn’t Happy With ABC [Podcast] at The Playlist.

facebook

twitter

google+

We check out the John Travolta films that have been bypassing cinemas over the past few years...

In the days leading up to writing this article, which will cover a recent period in which he’s made a bunch of films that have quickly drifted to DVD or VOD, I had to stop and ask myself a genuine question: how do I actually feel about John Travolta?

The answer that rose from the depths of my coal-black, hell-bound soul was weirdly surprising. Brushing aside his personal life – which is not worth getting into here – I found I had nothing but good feelings surrounding his work as an actor.

I grew up with Carrie, Grease, Look Who’s Talking and perhaps his best film, Brian De Palma’s Blow Out. I also grew up with some of his clunkers, like the Look Who’s Talking sequels and 80s concept comedy The Experts. He’s been acting since before I was born, so he’s always been in the background of my pop culture landscape – working solidly for more than 40 years.

Over those decades, his catalogue has defied explanation. He seems to unapologetically pick whatever he feels moved to be a part of regardless of criticism and, goddamn it, there’s something inherently admirable about that. Unlike, say, Bruce Willis, he doesn’t seem happy with doing just a couple of days work on a shoot in a smaller part; more often he will choose to be the star, or at least have equal-ish screen time – even if the project isn’t boasting a huge budget or a big name director. When Pulp Fiction thrust him back into the mainstream, he was still picking up stuff like Phenomenon and Michael in the following years.

I can confidently say that I’ve never seen the man actively 'phone in' a performance and even when he’s overcooked it, there’s usually a decent reason. I mean, if you find yourself on the set of Face/Off going up against The Cage, you’re gonna need to fight fire with fire. Even in Battlefield Earth, he was at least trying.

But in the last half decade we’ve found ourselves in a deeper Travolta trough than we’ve ever been in before. His films aren’t quite cutting the mustard in the industry like they used to and, after a run of flops that have seen him drift back into television with an impressive turn as Robert Shapiro in The People V. O.J. Simpson, I find myself wondering 'will Travolta ever be big business again?'

So, I took a look at four of the films that Travolta’s worked on in the last few years - each of which has effectively gone straight to DVD (save for a few days in a cinema) - to see if anything’s slipped under our radar that needs a boost…

The Forger (2014)

Rotten Tomatoes Score – 7% IMDb Rating – 5.7/10

In The Forger, John Travolta is a man serving a prison sentence who makes a call to get out of it early so he can spend more time with his dying son. In exchange for help with bribing the judge to release him early, John’s expected to help forge a Monet for his erstwhile crime boss, played by Hell On Wheels’ Anson Mount.

As the film casually flits between the forge/heist story and the bonding relationship between John and his son, it’s a testament to director Philip Martin - who comes from a TV background where he’s learnt his trade by helping to bring Prime Suspect and Wallander crime stories to life – that it isn’t a complete disaster. In someone else’s hands, it very well could have been.

Instead, The Forger has a delicate touch and a lot of the shots are interesting and unexpected without being jarring. It flows very smoothly and there’s an undercurrent of genuine love stemming from Travolta’s performance. After losing his own son, making a film about losing a son might have been cathartic and definitely quite close to the bone. I don’t want to read too much into Travolta’s choices, because that way madness lies, but it does really come across as though he cared about this one.

The Forger’s family scenes - with Travolta’s son Tye Sheridan and father Christopher Plummer - play really well, and while the tone of these scenes doesn’t gel with the heist elements of the plot, there’s good stuff here.

Overall, there’s not quite enough substance to sail the whole thing smoothly down the river, but it’s not bad by any stretch and the reviews have been a little harsh on what is actually a perfectly average film. No, you won’t watch it again, but neither will you probably regret watching it in the first place.

Criminal Activities (2015)

Rotten Tomatoes Score – 47% IMDb Rating – 5.8/10

Hoo boy, that title. That’s the worst title. I can’t imagine anyone involved could have wanted it. It’s maybe the most generic title I’ve ever seen. It’s so bad that even when I picked up the DVD, looked at the cover and saw that Michael Pitt (Hannibal, Boardwalk Empire) and Dan Stevens (The Guest, The Guest, The Guest) were Travolta’s co-stars in this, I still felt like I was drowning in the beigeness of it.

The film itself - Jackie Earle Haley's directorial debut - is an unfortunate mess. The plot, such as it is, involves Michael, Dan and the rest of the lads from their childhood gang borrowing money from a mob boss (Travolta) to invest in some sure-fire stocks that immediately collapse, leaving them out of pocket and in John’s. To pay off the debt, he wants them to kidnap a guy, because that guy’s friend kidnapped someone else. It’s convoluted and makes little sense, due to the fact that there’s a big twist coming at the end which will clarify most, if not all of it.

The actors are doing wayyy too much in the film - directed by an actor who clearly wants the actors to have room to act - and therein lies the fundamental problem. Apart from a great turn by Edi Gathegi (Gone Baby Gone, X-Men: First Class, Crank) it’s impossible to point a finger at anyone else in the cast and say 'yep, you, good job' because there’s just too much going on.

The twist is actually decent, but everything leading up to it is a headache. Working on a low budget, most of the scenes are dialogue-heavy, arduous and reliant on excessive coverage – so what you end up with is a film where a load of dudes sit in a room together and shout and swear at each other a lot. I wanted to take that final twist aside, buy it a drink, hug it, and reassure it that it deserved better.

I’m afraid to say there’s not much here to recommend, which is ironic given that it’s had the most positive reviews of the bunch.

I Am Wrath (2016)

Rotten Tomatoes Score – 13% IMDb Rating – 5.2/10

I Am Wrath is the worst film of these four by a long chalk.

Here, John stars as a man who decides payback is needed when his wife (Rebecca de Mornay) is killed before his eyes. That’s really all there is, plot-wise. See, it turns out he’s a man with a very particular set of skills and yada yada yada off he goes.

The script - written by Paul 'nope, nothing you’ve heard of' Sloan - is so very, very bad. I am going to tell you how bad it is, so you don’t think I’m just whistlin’ Dixie here:

During his wife’s funeral, John tells the priest that he’s an atheist after the priest gives him a bible in his time of need. Later, Travolta flings this bible across the room angrily. He then stops, pulls a full Joey Tribbiani 'smell-the-fart', slowly approaches the discarded bible, picks it up and reads a line about wrath with the dumbest revelatory expression on his face as the music builds. He sees this as a sign that he should become wrath, despite his earlier insistence that he thinks religion is total garbage.

Later, when asked who he is, Travolta looks determinedly into a mirror and says “I am wrath” – he said the name of the movie you guys! Holy shit. Honestly, I could not believe how hackneyed the whole thing was, not to mention bizarre - the film regularly abandons its serious 'violence begets violence' tone whenever John’s Bff Christopher Meloni turns up, suddenly becoming a jokey buddy comedy.

This was hard to get through. Please avoid it at all costs, for there is nothing here to keep you warm at night.

Killing Season (2013)

Rotten Tomatoes Score – 11% IMDb Rating – 5.4/10

De Niro and Travolta – together at last?

Well, the opening sequence gives us a bit of background on the reason we’re all here. Something bad happened during the Bosnian War that will bring our two main dudes together for some serious vengeance. The sequence is sepia, because past, and ohhhhh god, here comes the present…

It’s at this point that we discover that John is going to attempt an Eastern European accent. It is Not Good. It is not John Malkovich in Rounders, but it is Not Good and we are stuck with it for the duration.

His facial hair during this first scene is also completely ridiculous. I can’t adequately describe how bonkers it is, but try to imagine a werewolf that can only grow stubble carefully shaving a circle into its face. It’s a relief to find that they decided to tone this down for the rest of the film - he looks more like he’s wearing a black chinstrap from then on.

Despite the accent and the questionable chin beard, it’s a lot easier to buy Travolta as a man on a mission of vengeance during Killing Season than it was during I Am Wrath. He’s obviously jazzed to be working with De Niro and he’s knuckled down to bounce off him, keeping it low-key and making an effort not to overdo it.

As a result of this equilibrium, we also get a glimpse of a pre-Meet The Parents De Niro - which is very much welcomed, sweet lord - and the two men head into the second act ready to take each other on, hunt each other down and resolve those Bosnian sins of the past in the most violent way possible.

The script - by proposed Tomb Raider reboot scribe Evan Daugherty - occasionally stumbles, but is solid enough. The direction is fine. It’s fine. It’s probably Mark Steven Johnson’s best film (but when his other major films are Daredevil and Ghost Rider, that’s not exactly a gush) and as the two leads hunt and trap each other, a lot of Predator love oozes out of the frame. Unfortunately, this is not Predator, but you could do worse on an evening than to sit through this instead (if you don’t own Predator).

…Oh my god you guys. We should totally watch Predator right now.

Until next time, and until the next rebirth of Mr Travolta, I bid you adieu.

Next time: the straight to DVD movies of John Cusack

Follow our Twitter feed for faster news and bad jokes right here. And be our Facebook chum here.

See related Bruce Willis: examining his recent straight-to-dvd movies DVD & Bluray Feature Movies Kirsten Howard John Travolta 14 Jun 2016 - 05:16 The Forger I Am Wrath Criminal Activities Killing Season...

What jumps to mind when you hear the phrase "Quentin Tarantino movie"? Hyperviolence? A bunch of different B-movies pastiched into something new? A lot of dialogue with a lot of bad language? That one "F" word in particular? Any of those could be right, but there's another thing many of Tarantino's movies have in common: a big, meaty role for an actor who's maybe in need of a career boost. In the case of the Tarantino movie currently in theaters, The Hateful Eight, the role is that of Daisy Domergue, a wily, foul-mouthed criminal played by Jennifer Jason Leigh. Now Leigh hasn't been without work.

UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television has established the Barbara Boyle Promising Producers Prize in the school’s Producers Program, the school announced Tuesday. Beginning in 2016, the award will be given to a UCLA Tft Producers Program student presenting in the annual Producers Marketplace during the school’s Student Film Festival. The award honors Boyle, a former film executive and producer whose credits include “Phenomenon” and “Bottle Rocket.” She served as chair of UCLA Tft’s Department of Film, Television and Digital Media for nine years. She is currently the Associate Dean of Entrepreneurial Activities and Special Initiatives at UCLA Tft.

The UCLA School Of Theater, Film And Television has established an award named after the former executive and Women In Film Crystal Award recipient.

Albert Dorman, Boyle’s brother and founding chairman of Los Angeles-based Aecom Technology Corp, has created the Barbara Boyle Promising Producers Prize in the UCLA Tft Producers Program.

The award will carry on Boyle’s legacy in educating future filmmakers and starting in 2016 will be given to a UCLA Tft Producers Program student presenting in the annual Producers Marketplace during the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television’s Student Film Festival.

Boyle studied law at UCLA and from 1982-86 in her capacity as a production executive oversaw production on The Terminator and Platoon.

She co-founded Sovereign Pictures in 1990 with offices in Los Angeles and London and as an independent producer she made Phenomenon.

In April 2003 she stepped down from the presidency of Valhalla Motion Pictures to become chair of UCLA Tft’s Department...

From Green Lantern 2 and Terminator: Salvation 2, to a Cat In The Hat sequel and Batman Triumphant: sequels killed by the earlier film...

Earlier this year, it was revealed that a sequel was in the early stages for the new Pierce Brosnan action thriller, The November Man. Remember it? Probably not: The November Man would go on to flop in the Us, grossing just $25m in the Us, and when it finally made it to British cinemas, it was released on just one screen (presumably to fill a contractual obligation somewhere along the line).

There's been no word yet on the fate of The November Man 2, but the outlook does not seem favourable. It wouldn't be the first time though that a sequel had been loudly mooted before even a first film was released, only to be quietly abandoned when something - usually related to box office takings - didn't go to plan.

John Travolta admits he has no regrets over Battlefield Earth, and would do it all again...

The knives were firmly out for John Travolta's long-cherished passion project, Battlefield Earth, when it landed in cinemas in 1999. Eyed as the first in a multiple-part adaptation of the source material, with Roger Christian directing, the project attracted negative attention from the off for being an adaptation of Scientology founder L Ron Hubbard's book. It would be fair to say that, while it has merits, the end movie probably didn't help either.

In an interesting new interview over at The Daily Beast, however, Travolta has stood by the film. When asked if he regretted it, he adamantly replied "no way, are you kidding? Why would I ever regret that?"

He continued, saying that "I had the power to do whatever I wanted and I chose to do a book that I thought was...

John Travolta has defended his 2000 movie Battlefield Earth, despite its critical legacy as one of the worst movies of all time.

The long-time Scientologist produced and starred in the sci-fi movie, based on the first half of the 1982 novel of the same name by Scientology founder L Ron Hubbard.

Travolta helped fund the project with millions of dollars of his own money, and the film was a critical and commercial failure. It won nine Golden Raspberry Awards - a record until 2012.

When asked by The Daily Beast if the film was a career regret, Travolta replied: "No way, are you kidding? Why would I ever regret that?

"I had the power to do whatever I wanted, and I chose to do a book that I thought was worthy of making into a movie. It's a beautiful film. It's a good movie.

Travolta added that the film's failure was partly down...

John Travolta is as fascinating and complex a member of the Hollywood fraternity as you could wish for. Iconic performer, experienced pilot, vocal Scientologist and mangler of pronunciation of Idina Menzel.

He has managed to appear in not just some of the best known, but also some of the best-full-stop films of the past forty years – Saturday Night Fever, Carrie, Grease, Pulp Fiction, Get Shorty, Face/Off, The Thin Red Line, Hairspray and the upcoming Gummy Bear The Movie – whatever one might think of the consistency of his output (and there have been some horrendous misfires), it is hard to imagine too many actors playing Danny Zuko, Vincent Vega, Castor Troy, Sean Archer, Chili Palmer and Edna Turnblad with equal conviction.

After the temporary resuscitation of Look Who’s Talking turned out to be a false dawn, Tarantino did Travolta a favour of inestimable proportions by casting him in Pulp Fiction,...

Exclusive: The Closer star/executive producer Kyra Sedgwick has signed with CAA. She was previously at UTA. Sedgwick’s seven-season stint as Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson on the hit TNT drama earned her an Emmy and a Golden Globe. She recently returned to TNT as an executive producer of drama Proof, which was picked up to pilot by the network. On the feature side, Sedgwick has starred in Born On The Fourth Of July, Singles and Phenomenon. She continues to be repped by manager Jill Littman at Impression Entertainment and attorney Ira Schreck.