Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Sequel Announced
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon II - The Green Destiny is set to begin production in March 2014 and will see Michelle Yeoh reprise her role as Yu Shu Lien. Notably absent from the credits will be virtually the rest of the of the cast from the 2000 original, including Lee, who’s direction helped the film garner four Academy Awards including Best Foreign Language Film. read more
The Bling Ring (2013 Cannes review)
When making a film based on actual crimes, there’s a natural inclination to want to explain precisely what drove the perpetrators to commit their deeds. But in the case of The Bling Ring, a movie inspired by a few high school kids’ string of robberies at celebrities’ homes in the late 2000s, writer-director Sofia Coppola’s rationale for their crimes is quite simple: They did it because they were extraordinarily shallow and materialistic. It’s an intriguing notion, but one wishes Coppola wouldn’t pound on this single point for her movie’s entire running time.... read more
The Congress (2013 Cannes review)
The ambition of The Congress is such that it almost makes a convincing argument for filmmakers following their mad visions wherever they take them, even if they haven’t worked out crucial specifics like story and character. Moving from the personal and experimental nature of his last film, the documentary Waltz With Bashir, director Ari Folman has again gone bold. Even when The Congress falters, which is far, far too often, the conviction of his approach keeps convincing you that he’ll pull things together shortly. Too bad that never quite happens.... read more
Heli (2013 Cannes review)
The world of Heli is a dark and desperate one. Set in an impoverished isolated Mexican community, director Amat Escalante’s spare, unflinching drama treats crime and violence as regrettably commonplace occurrences. From Heli’s perspective, it’s not surprising that lawlessness exists in that country’s remote regions—but it is somewhat miraculous that it has yet to visit the film’s main characters. Until now.... read more
Christopher Nolan in Talks to Direct New James Bond Film
Following the commercial success of Skyfall, which earned $1.1 billion worldwide, Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G .Wilson have reportedly approached Nolan with the offer to direct the 24th film in the franchise after Skyfall director, Sam Mendes, dropped out due to commitments to theatre projects in London. read more
Watch the Massive New Trailer for Guillermo del Toro's "Pacific Rim"
“This is my most un-modest film, this has everything. The scale is enormous and I’m just a big kid having fun,” Guillermo del Toro told Shocktillyoudrop.com about his new film, Pacific Rim, in an interview last year. He wasn’t lying. A new trailer for the blockbuster film, due in theaters on July 12, surfaced today, and only one word can possibly describe it: HUGE The trailer centers around enormous human-robot fighters (like Iron Man except for the fact that they could crush him in their hands) fighting to save the world against these massive dinosaur-aliens that have risen from the... read more
Pieta
From the moment he strides on-screen in Kim Ki-duk’s Pieta, it’s clear that Kang-do (Lee Jung-jin) is a nasty piece of business who’s found both a calling and environ ideally suited to his violent tendencies.... read more
Star Trek Into Darkness
For Trekkies, Abrams’ film is part two of an extended, mostly pleasurable exercise in alternate reality resonance—it’s like film fan fiction, minus the slash-fic component. read more
Gatsby Knocks Iron Man 3 From Top Spot at Box Office
Few probably thought that F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel about the American Dream would oust Marvel’s American superhero from the top of the box office, but Baz Luhrmann’s adaptation of The Great Gatsby became the No. 1 film in the U.S. on Wednesday to much surprise, according to Deadline.... read more
Iron Man 3 Writer Drew Pearce Slated to Pen Mission:Impossible
Christopher McQuarrie (Jack Reacher) is reportedly in talks to direct. read more
Mandy Patinkin, Josh Gad Cast in Zach Braff's Wish I Was Here
Patinkin will be playing Braff's father and Gad has been cast as his brother. The film--also written by Braff--is about a financially-strapped father and actor in his 30s who reluctantly attempts to home school his two young children, learning things about himself along the way. read more
Help Kickstart Physical Release for Punch Brothers' How to Grow a Band Doc
Punch Brothers fans: You want this. read more
Arnold Schwarzenegger in Talks for Toxic Avenger Remake
Deadline reports that the former Governator is now in negotiation to star in writer/director Steve Pink’s (Hot Tube Time Machine) proposed remake of The Toxic Avenger, the low-budget 1984 film superhero film originally produced by the the schlock-inclined production company Troma Entertainment. read more
Catching Up with Jay Chandrasekhar
In a conversation with Paste, the Super Troopers and Beerfest director/actor spoke at length about the film’s origins, directing TV and how he approaches getting bad reviews. read more
Watch the Trailer for James Franco-Directed As I Lay Dying
The trailer makes it unclear as to how to film adaptation will tackle the book’s unique structure, which has several different characters narrating the story at different points. What it does do, however, is highlight some of the film’s intense dramatic moments. read more
Warner Bros. Acquires Rights to Ryan Gosling's How to Catch a Monster
Saoirse Ronan, Christina Hendricks, Eva Mendes and Matt Smith star in the fantasy thriller about a single mother and her teenage son who discover a dark underworld. read more
Seven Films We're Looking Forward to at Rooftop Films 2013
Springtime in New York City can only mean one thing — the awesome Rooftop Films series. Rooftop always brings a fascinating slate, and this year is no different. Here are seven we can especially recommend.... read more
Catching Up With Bill Ross of Tchoupitoulas
In more than a few of its slim 80 minutes, Tchoupitoulas feels like it accomplishes the impossible. Tchoupitoulas, before you keep asking, is pronounced “CHOP-ih-TOO-lus,” and it’s the second movie from Bill and Turner Ross, collectively known as the Ross Brothers. It is ostensibly a documentary, but the movie lands in a hazy area between fiction and nonfiction. You won’t find any issues being discussed, or any world problems solved, only a bleary-eyed, overnight New Orleans adventure with three teenage brothers. From the very first shot, we’re inside the brain of the younger brother, privy to his internal dialogue, and... read more
TONIGHT: Ondi Timoner Project Offers Shepard Fairey T-Shirts, Amanda Palmer Episode
We’ve been keeping you in touch with our friend and sometime collaborator Ondi Timoner’s new project, A Total Disruption, about the innovators shaping our collective future, and its Kickstarter campaign. Tonight, for the last night of the campaign, Ondi has given backers a very special twofer.... read more
The Great Gatsby
It may be impossible for The Great Gatsby to make it to the screen and still be The Great Gatsby. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel is such a slippery endeavor, such a combination of dueling character perceptions and unseen incidents, that by the time a filmmaker materializes it, some of its power unavoidably vanishes. Of course, you lose some things and gain others any time you adapt one medium to another, but Gatsby is about a deep, hollow longing lurking behind glitz and glamor. When you put it on the screen, it’s easier to show the frills than the subtle notes... read more
