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No, Ed Helms has not decided to transition. Rather, it’s the casting of Harrison (Shrill) that may very well set the tone for Transgender talent to get leading cisgender roles in future movies. Helms and Harrison are very much the leads here. He’s Matt, a lonely app designer, she’s Anna, the 26-year old expectant surrogate mother of his child. The deal struck between them is simple: Anna gets the payday she needs to finish college, and Matt, in his 40s and single, finally becomes a father....

I’ll review it more thoroughly when it gets released Stateside later this year. Contribute Hire me Advertise Donate Team Contact Privacy Policy

“Shut up about “Wakanda Forever.” Racist! You are going back in time with segregation. Shame on you, dumb c*nt!” No, really, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” which I caught yesterday, is out of the running for Best Picture. No matter what some pundits are telling you, it’s DOA. Fine, the original ‘Panther’ was Best Picture nominated, but reviews for the 2018 movie were far better than ‘Wakanda Forever.’ Given my utter distaste for the film, I have to look at the reviews and they paint a not-so-rosy picture for its Oscar chances....

Here are the 10 most promising titles “Ammonite” (November 13, VOD) One of the more highly anticipated films on the list. Francis Lee (“God’s own Country”) brings together Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan for this intense move story set in 1840’s England. This film is sure to be a major awards player come 2021. Ever since “Ammonite” was selected to be part of Cannes’ non-existent 2020 edition, there has been persistent hype surrounding Lee’s film, although comparisons to last year’s “Portrait of A Lady on Fire” will surely be made....

And so, we are left with the movies, the performances, the scripts etc. all of which we were forced to watch at home since most theaters were closed these last 11 or so months. There are no big-budgeted epics up for contention, just small movies, some very small. It all amounts to a Best Picture slate that might just be the worst one since the transitional period of silent to talkies in the late ‘20s....

The roles played by the movies are quite significant considering the influence of Hollywood on people all over the globe. It has been featured in several major Hollywood hits including two of the most loved films, The Gambler and 21. Las Vegas is considered to be the hub of shooting such movies that captures the actors and actresses having a good time away from their life of monotony. Thousands of players around the world admire the industry because not only does it describe the colourful picture of casinos, but it also has a similar design to many independent online casinos like ones that are listed on NonGamStopBets, which is a standalone gaming portal....

Longtime attendees may no doubt be divided by these plans to restructure the Berlinale. If you remember, Kosslick also signed the Gender Parity 2020 pledge so that the male/female split would be 50/50 at this year’s fest. I don’t want to get started on that issue, as I have my own skepticism about forced-upon parity at film festivals instead of letting the parity naturally evolve into a 50/50 split. Alas, The announcement of the competition titles for the 70th edition of the Berlinale will be made on December 12th....

Kechiche has now released a statement about the drama surrounding “Mektoub My Love: Intermezzo.” [via Les Inrok] In a public letter addressed to Bau’s agent, Kechiche claims to be the victim of a conspiracy orchestrated by the French media and the agents of other actresses who have worked with him in the past (Sara Forestier, Hafsia Herzi, Léa Seydoux, and Adèle Exarchopoulos); he says their sole purpose is to destroy his career....

As soon as Kevin Hart was announced to host the 2019 Academy Awards, which is set to have a record-number of LGBTQ-nominated films and actors, an old “joke” the comedic actor made — about not wanting his son to be gay — started making the rounds all over the net. The joke was uttered in Hart’s 2010 comedy special, “Seriously Funny,” in which he claimed his “biggest fear” was his son “growing up and being gay....

A private screenings occurred at TIFF this weekend for buyers, with a bidding war ensuing. Focus finally bought the damn thing for $30 million. The movie has to be of top quality for all of this to have occurred. This is the biggest deal ever in TIFF history, and the film is not even part of the official lineup. Wild. “The Holdovers” is practically finished post-production editing, but we will have to wait 15 months before it is released....

It’s not that, on-paper at least, there was an abundance of promising titles this fall, but, these last few weeks, a lot of films have underperformed critically at Venice, Telluride and Toronto. Those include (with Metacritic scores) “The Son (61),” “Bardo (51),” “Empire of Light (60),” “White Noise (67),” “Blonde (64),” “The Greatest Beer Run (NA),” and “The Whale (65).” Of course, because it’s been such a weak fall slate, almost any of the above titles could potentially sneak into the Oscar conversation....

Dominik is now telling Collider’s Steven Weintraub that “Netflix are letting me release the movie I wanted to make, and even with the NC-17 rating.” He then specifies that the goal is to send “Blonde” to Venice for a fall festival launch: “The idea is it goes to Venice now, so what’s that, September?" Here’s also Dominik’s interesting description of “Blonde” in the interview: This guy is real humble. He’s also predicting a Venice premiere: Last Fall, I had reported on the hefty post-production battles between Dominik and Netflix....

Ari Aster wrapped filming “Disappointment Boulevard” in Montreal last summer. Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Ryan, Michael Gandolfini, Nathan Lane and Parker Posey are set to star in the mysterious film which originally went by the title of “Beau is Afraid.” In 2011, Aster directed a short film titled “Beau.” Described as a “surrealist horror film set in an alternate present,” Phoenix’s character would play an “extremely anxious but pleasant-looking man who has a fraught relationship with his overbearing mother and never knew his father....

When all is said and done, at least so far, only 54 out of 2000+ COVID tests from attendees came back positive. This only proves the safety of moviegoing during the pandemic era and must have put a large smile on the face of Cannes boss Thierry Fremaux. I’m hearing Carla Simón’s “Alcarrás,” might win the Golden Bear in what was a very luckwarm competition lineup. if “Alcarrás” does become Spain’s first Berlinale winner since 1983, the holders of the Golden Bear, Golden Lion (Audrey Diwan) and Palme d’Or (Julia Ducournau) will all be European women born in the 1980s, awarded for their second feature....

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They’ve decided that, unsurprisingly, the best film of 2019 was Jean-Luc Godard’s “The Image Book.” Godard, who started off as a Cahiers contributor in the ‘50s, is well-loved by them, so this isn’t entirely surprising. What’s actually surprising is the group including Clint Eastwood’s highly underrated “The Mule“ (#9), not to mention Todd Phillips’ equally brilliant “Joker“ (#8). Obviously, “Parasite” (#2) and “The Irishman” (#10) already had a good shot at making the list, but I have to applaud the inclusions of Nadav Lapid’s “Synonyms” (#3) and, especially, “Bacurau” (#4) - the latter set for a U....

Variety is reporting that the South Korean Palme d’Or winner “Parasite” is now the highest-grossing international film of the year, it passed the $12 million milestone at the domestic box office as of today. Not just that, but Forbes is additionally reporting that the film’s box office per-theater average is actually now higher than what “Avengers: Endgame” had. All of this, despite the film being shown in just 461 theaters (an additional 142 locations is expected next weekend) Of course, the film isn’t grossing billions of dollars as ‘Endgame’ has, but it is very positive news for those of us who wanted a spark to happen at the box-office, something that would shake the ground and wake some studio execs up from their franchise-obsessed mindset....

Frémaux was a guest on the French show La Grande Table Culture this past Monday and namechecked Wes Anderson’s film “The French Dispatch,” which he says was locked and loaded for official competition. Frémaux described Anderson’s film as a “unique, minimalist, and extraordinary work. The film is self-referential, a tribute to the French press of the 1930s and to French Culture.” Other films mentioned by Frémaux include Paul Verhoeven’s “Benedetta,” and Nanni Moretti’s “Tre Piani,” both of which, according to him, could very well appear at the 2021 edition of the festival....

This was expected. There was a major shake-up in regards to Sight and Sound’s prestigious poll. For the betterment of society, we now have a female director taking the top spot: Chantal Ackerman’s “Jeanne Dielman” — a great movie that shouldn’t even be flirting with the likes of “Vertigo,” “Citizen Kane” “Tokyo Story” and “2001: A Space Odyssey.” Also, for the betterment of society, Barry Jenkins’ “Moonlight” (#60), Jordan Peele’s “Get Out” (#95), and Celine Sciamma’s “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” (#30) have all three magically entered the top 100 of this once-prestigious list....

I saw it again earlier this week and can safely say that it plays better on second viewing. Does it now get a pass from yours truly? I believe so. It’s a perplexing movie that with every viewing may have its qualities enhanced further. Denis has always been hit and miss with me; When the French filmmaker is on her game (“Beau Travail,” “35 Shots of Rum”) her experiments turn out to be landmark events....