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Focus has announced a June 16th, 2023 theatrical launch for “Asteroid City.” It’s obviously going to Cannes. Probably in competition. A plot synopsis has also been revealed and it sounds delightfully Anderson-esque: The star-studded cast features Tom Hanks and Margot Robbie in their Anderson film debuts, plus Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Jeffrey Wright, Tilda Swinton, Bryan Cranston, Ed Norton, Adrien Brody, Liev Schreiber, Hope Davis, Stephen Park, Rupert Friend, Maya Hawke, Steve Carell, Matt Dillon, Hong Chau, Willem Dafoe, Tony Revolori, Jake Ryan, Grace Edwards, Aristou Meehan, Sophia Lillis, Ethan Lee, Jeff Goldblum and Rita Wilson....

What is this movie even about? What’s the plot? It’s quite clear Gerwig won’t be playing it straight and may be aiming for a meta feel with her movie. Is it even for kids? Gerwig and her crew are keeping it all very hush hush. I’m as dumbfounded as you are by this project. Gerwig and partner Noah Baumbach wrote the screenplay. The film started its London shoot in March....

You can’t escape the fact that “Bohemian Rhapsody” has been such an immense success with audiences nationwide. The Queen biopic has delivered great numbers at the box-office with close to $155M grossed domestically thus far — cue in all the Hollywood execs greenlighting rock biopics left and right. Not to mention ‘Rhapsody’ garnering a rare A grade on CinemaScore and an astonishing 8.4 rating on IMDB (based on 127k votes)....

Honnold’s obsession with the Yosemite National Park drives directors E. Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin’s film, who previously made the acclaimed mountain-climbing movie “Meru.” However, “Free Solo” is on a whole other level, as they follow Honnold over two years of preparation to pull the death-defying stunt. Once the Honnold embarks on this feat, in the last 20 minutes of the film, with Vasarhelyi and Chin’s cameras strategically located to shoot the climb as cinematically as possible, it turns out to be one of the most breathlessly thrilling movie moments I have ever experienced....

Director George C. Wolfe’s film is about a young trumpet player (Boseman) who is trying to revolutionize the blues music of singer extraordinaire Ma Rainey (Viola Davis). And yet, should he be trusted? Is he in it for his own gain of fame? Those are the questions that seem to be asked ‘Ma Rainey’. Despite the acting talent in front of the movie, Wolfe is a major question mark, he’s probably best known for “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” but, ok, fine, I’ll be frank, his filmography stinks....

Depicting the rise and fall of popular country rock musician Jackson Maine (Cooper) and Ally, the talented musician (Lady Gaga) he discovers at a drag bar, Cooper shoots the hell out of this picture, he is by DP extraordinaire Matthew Libatique’s vividly rich frames; They both find ways to bring some much-needed humanity to a story told countless times before, and not just through the ‘Star is Born’ title. Gaga in a supposedly, err, star-making role, has her character Ally setting off a spark in has been Jackson, something that he hasn’t felt since his earliest days of live performance....

“Aftersun,” which was released this past Friday, has an incredible 95 on Metacritic. I initially saw it at Cannes this past May, it was playing in the Critics Week sidebar section. I wrote in my capsule review that it was the best film debut of 2012. IonCinema’s Eric Lavallée, a good friend of mine, thinks Wells’ “Aftersun” is one of the best debuts of the 21st century. A lot of critics seem to think that....

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“Virginie Efira is absolutely stunning, inducing a sensual spell on the viewer. She, quite literally, gives body and soul to the role. “Benedetta” is also absolute Verhoeven. Erotic, violent, religiously sinful and absurdist. You have never seen a movie quite like this one. It’s a feminist take on Christ and Verhoeven makes sure to stuff his film with just about every obsession he’s had the last forty years; sadism, perversion, feminism, power, religion and, of course, total and utter irony....

Diggs’ Collin is a formerly jailed ex-con with just three days left in his probation. Casal is Miles, his white friend. The both seem inseparable, with Miles always having a harder time staying out of trouble, mostly due to his anger issues. Their trade is furniture moving, in which they see the gentrification happening all over their Oakland hood, and wonder what’s next for them? Collin is the character in which we see the film’s lenses through, and so, the plot thickens when he witnesses a cop shooting an unarmed black man....

The writer of this film, Jimmy Kustes, also stars as Casey, an unemployed gamer obsessed with his television. The body switch happens after he goes to an actual job interview and is interviewed by CJ (a delightful Ella Jordan). Casey fails miserably during that meeting. Alas, like almost every movie in this genre, there’s needs to be an electric shock for the switcharoo to happen. And so, CJ and Casey hold on to a shredder, a drink is spilled and, et voila, the electro body-swapping occurs....

Mike Mills’ “C’mon C’mon” is meant to be one of those films where incompatible adult and child come out of an experience feeling grown, whole and closer than ever. The film was shot by DP Robbie Ryan in beautifully rendered monochrome cinematography. And yet, the Black and White isnt necessarily needed here, rather, it makes the whole thing feel more twee than it already is. The main thematic proponent Mills tackles here is “what does the future hold for Gen Z’ers?...

A major push by the mainstream media certainly helped Chu’s film achieve that goal and so did excellent reviews, almost all of which emphasized the historic nature of the production. IndieWire: “But this weekend makes it likely that it will easily hit $165 million, and easily become the second biggest non-franchise/sequel release of the year (at the moment, “A Quiet Place” is best at $188 million).” Contribute Hire me...

The streaming giant is saying that the $155 million-costing comedy scored an astounding 152 million hours viewed in its first week of release. McKay’s movie nabbed the most viewers of any Netflix original film in its first week of release, surpassing the “Bird Box” record. I continue to insist in these pages that “Don’t Look Up” is a almost certainly in contention for a Best Picture nomination. However, film critics and journalists have been divided on the film’s odd tonal mix of comedy and drama....

It’s quite clear that Villeneuve’s adaptation of “Dune” is MASSIVE, jamming in every detail possible, with a ridiculously impressive cast to boot. The tease of the “worm” in the final shot of this trailer will surely get millions of fanboys creaming their pants in anticipation, but so what? Much like the box-office failure of “Blade Runner 2049,” is there an actual, big enough audience for this movie? Regardless, I’ll be first in line to watch this because Villeneuve is a talented filmmaker worth seeking....

With his latest film — “Endings, Beginnings” — Doremus is pulling the same stunt yet again, tackling the love plight of Daphne (Shailene Woodley), an L.A. woman in her early thirties and fresh off a breakup with boyfriend of four years Adrian (Matthew Gray Gubler). Regret fills Daphne’s psyche as the reason she and Adrian broke up in the first place is due to her cheating with Jed (Ben Esler)....

The composer had earlier released an official statement saying, in part, “I have never expressed any negative statements about the Academy, Quentin, or his films — and certainly, do not consider his films garbage. I have given a mandate to my lawyer in Italy to take civil and penal action.” What I don’t get is this: in his original statement Morricone seems to be indicating that the interview did happen but that his comments were fabricated....

As it currently stands, Spielberg’s Oscar hopeful has barely made a dent with just $8.7 million grossed. It’s already on VOD so I don’t expect that number to go that much higher in the weeks to come. Streaming-wise, it is #4 at Vudu, #5 at iTunes and is not in Google Play’s top ten. In fact, according to IndieWire’s Tom Brueggemann “Bros” and “She Said” have had better VOD numbers than ‘Fabelmans....

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Of course, this is just a teaser, but it will be our first opportunity to watch footage of Scorsese’s latest epic, which stars Leonard DiCaprio, Lily Gladstone, Jesse Plemons and Robert DeNiro (in a smaller role than expected). The film privately screened for Paramount/Apple folks a few weeks ago, and I have been told that “it is a bravura piece of filmmaking in all areas, and with a social consciousness, as the book was, at its heart”....