Cannes Lineup Revealed: Ari Aster, Richard Linklater, Scarlett Johansson, Wes Anderson & More
The 78th Cannes Film Festival has announced its lineup, and once again, the South of France will be home to some of the biggest stars and most sought-after directors, including directorial debuts for two great performers and a first-time for the festival itself in its opening film.
Some of the well-known directors heading to the Croisette this year are Wes Anderson, arriving with his caper The Phoenician Scheme, Richard Linklater for his new film Nouvelle Vague,
Barry Jenkins to Direct Zendaya in Ronnie Spector Biopic “Be My Baby” for A24
There are dream pairings and dream pairings, and this case more than deserves the italicized emphasis.
Auteur Barry Jenkins will direct Zendaya in a film for A24 about the life of the legendary singer Ronnie Spector. Jenkins and Zendaya’s film, Be My Baby, will be based on an original script by Dave Kajganic, Deadline reports.
Zendaya is, of course,
“The Brutalist” Producers on the Demands and Delights of Building a Masterpiece
“Everybody was paddling in the same direction to support Brady’s vision, from the producers, the cast, the crew,” says The Brutalist producer Nick Gordon. “It’s a very special movie, and we’re glad it’s connecting with audiences in the way that it is.”
On a call with Gordon and fellow producer Trevor Matthews, the tandem behind Brookstreet Pictures explained how they helped director Brady Corbet create his masterpiece. At Brookstreet,
“The Brutalist” Production Designer Judy Becker on Designing Fictional Mid-Century Modernist Masterpieces
A World War II refugee architect and a robber baron meet in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, and modernist design history is made. The premise of The Brutalist, a 3.5-hour critical darling and Golden Globe winner from writer/director Brady Corbet, is as American as apple pie. But from the moment Holocaust survivor Làszló (Adrien Brody) pulls into New York Harbor, the film was shot in Europe. Working primarily in and around Budapest, production designer Judy Becker (Carol,
“The Brutalist” Composer Daniel Blumberg on Blending Genres in Brady Corbet’s American Epic
Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist has found its way into all the awards conversation, with everything from Corbert’s masterful direction to the performances by Adrien Brody and Guy Pearce, Dávid Jancsó’s editing, Lol Crawley’s cinematography, Judy Becker’s production design, and Daniel Blumberg’s score getting notice. The film is centered on visionary architect László Toth (Brody), who flees post-war Europe after experiencing the ravages and suffering of the Holocaust. He finds his way to the US,
“Sing Sing” Cinematographer Pat Scola on Capturing a Raw, Moving Portrait of Humanity
“It was really about getting out of your own way and allowing these men’s story to come to the forefront,” cinematographer Pat Scola tells The Credits about the emotionally stirring film Sing Sing from director Greg Kwedar, which shines a delicate light on the arts rehabilitation program at Sing Sing Correctional Facility. “Greg was the one who led from the front on this, and we were there to help tell the story without putting our hands all over it,” Scola says.
First Look at Dwayne Johnson as MMA Legend Mark Kerr in Benny Safdie’s “The Smashing Machine”
A24 has revealed the first look of Dwayne Johnson as MMA legend Mark Kerr in Benny Safdie’s upcoming film The Smashing Machine.
Johnson reunites with his Jungle Cruise co-star Emily Blunt in Safdie’s A24 drama, from a script Safdie wrote with consultation with Kerr. Kerr was a dominant figure in the MMA ring but had no shortage of problems outside of it, including addiction struggles and domestic problems with his wife,
Writer/Director Jane Schoenbrun on Their Stunning New Film “I Saw the TV Glow”
While a student at Boston University, writer/director Jane Schoenbrun enjoyed “many formative movie experiences” at the nearby Coolidge Corner Theater. “A fond memory is of a zombie movie and me and all my friends dressing in zombie makeup,” says Schoenbrun. “It was one of the happiest memories of my college experience, and it probably says something about me.”
So it’s a fitting, full circle moment for Schoenbrun when they returned to the historic Boston theater on May 11 as the 2024 recipient of the Coolidge Breakthrough Artist Award.
“Civil War” Production Designer Caty Maxey on Designing an America in Ruins
Picturing the United States as a divisive hellscape juxtaposed with bucolic vistas of the East Coast, Civil War imagines a not-too-distant future in which Americans settle their differences by executing each other at close range. In the movie—in theaters now—writer-director Alex Garland follows four reporters (Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny, and Stephen McKinley Henderson) as they trek from New York to Washington DC so they can document the last days of the republic while insurgent “Western Forces”
Mia Goth Makes it to Hollywood in Killer First Trailer for A24’s “MaXXXine”
Maxine Minx (Mia Goth) finally makes it to Hollywood in the first trailer for Ti West’s MaXXXine, but Tinsel Town has some awful surprises in store for her. Yet Maxine is not the type of young woman to get bullied, even by a mysterious killer who is stalking the land of dreams and turning it into a nightmare.
The first trailer for MaXXXine is a neon-lit 1980s fever dream,
From Kitchen Chaos to Rock Legend: Jeremy Allen White Circling Bruce Springsteen Role
Jeremy Allen White’s career is really cooking now. Scorching after recently winning a Golden Globe, Emmy, and SAG Award for his portrayal of Carmy Berzatto in FX’s tasty kitchen dramedy The Bear, Allen might be handing in his apron and chef’s knife for a pair of scuffed jeans and a guitar.
White is currently in talks to play none other than the Boss in a movie about Springsteen’s seminal 1982 album “Nebraska,”
From “SNL” to the Director’s Chair: Julio Torres Lights Up With “Problemista”
There is a cornucopia of comedy happening in Problemista, Julio Torres’ debut feature. In a little over 90 minutes, writer/director Torres pokes fun at cryonics, the Kafkaesque bureaucracy of the U.S. immigration system, and the eccentricities of the art world. Along the way, there are jabs at Craigslist, FileMaker Pro, and Bank of America. All of it is wrapped around a virtuoso performance by Tilda Swinton as a madcap,
First Trailer for “I Saw The TV Glow” Reveals Sundance’s Most Arresting Movie
The first trailer for Jane Schoenbrun’s I Saw the TV Glow reveals the Sundance hit that defied easy categorization and yet mesmerized critics.
Schoenbrunn’s film follows two teenagers caught in that nightmarish unreality known colloquially as the suburbs. It’s the 1990s, and Owen (Justice Smith) is the type of kid who feels world-weary already, alienated by his shyness and sense that he’s not entirely himself.
Yet Owen’s life changes when he meets a cool older girl named Maddy (Bridgett Lundy-Paine),
“The Zone of Interest” Sound Designer Johnnie Burn on Creating the Soundscape From Hell
Writer/director Jonathan Glazer does not shy away from a challenge. He has created indelible sequences that are essentially mindworms, burrowing deep into your consciousness. One of his most beloved films, his 2013 masterpiece Under the Skin, was chock full of them. If you had to choose just one, perhaps it would be the wordless scene that takes place on a Scottish beach after Scarlett Johansson’s nameless protagonist (she’s an alien who seduces men throughout Scotland,
“The Zone of Interest” Trailer Reveals Jonathan Glazer’s Harrowing, Urgent New Film
Jonathan Glazer’s films have a way of sticking to your ribs. Whether he’s taking on a gangster story, like his irresistibly intense Sexy Beast (2000), or delivering a powerhouse sci-fi meditation on what it means to be an outsider in his alien-among-us masterpiece Under the Skin (2013), a Glazer film is an experience unlike any other. This is why his latest film, The Zone of Interest, comes with the promise of something both unforgettable in the best sense and in the most urgent and upsetting.
“The Iron Claw” Trailer Finds Zac Efron and Jeremy Allen White Ready to Rumble
The first trailer for A24’s The Iron Claw has leaped into the ring. Writer/director Sean Durkin (The Nest, Martha Marcy May Marlene) has taken on the true story of the Von Erich brothers, a trio of supremely talented and extremely close siblings who were wrestling phenoms in the early 1980s. Durkin and casting director Susan Shopmaker have put together a terrific ensemble, including Zac Efron, The Bear breakout star Jeremy Allen White,
Nicolas Cage Enters the Collective Subconscious in Compelling “Dream Scenario” Trailer
There are certain roles that seem so tailor-made for a specific performer that you simply couldn’t imagine anyone else in them. This has been true for Nicolas Cage, a singular presence, to say the least, in a number of his films, most notably Moonstruck, Raising Arizona, Leaving Las Vegas, and Adaptation. These four films helped establish Cage as one of the most intriguing performers of his generation, and now,
Best of Summer 2023: “Talk To Me” Directors Danny & Michael Philippou on Crafting the Year’s Most Unsettling Horror Film
*It’s our annual “Best of Summer” look back at some (not all) of our favorite interviews from the past few months. This non-comprehensive look back includes the Barbenheimer phenomenon and the wonderful interviews that followed those two history-making films, chats with the talented folks behind Mission: Impossible, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, our profile of MPA Creator Award Recipient and filmmaker extraordinaire Gina Prince-Bythewood and more.
Danny and Michael Philippou do not pull their punches in their chilling feature film directorial debut Talk to Me.
“Talk To Me” Directors Danny & Michael Philippou on Crafting the Year’s Most Unsettling Horror Film
Danny and Michael Philippou do not pull their punches in their chilling feature film directorial debut Talk to Me. Having honed their craft over years making short films, the twins crafted a horror movie that screams with confidence and passion, where not a single scare seems to miss the mark. There’s a reason the powerhouse mini-major studio A24, behind some of the best horror films of the last decade, got behind these two.
From “Papyrus” to “Problemista”: Inside The Beautiful Mind of Julio Torres
Julio Torres, the exquisitely singular Salvadorian writer, comedian, television creator, and actor, is gearing up to reveal the newest edition to his sui generis output — Problemista. Torres’ upcoming—although sadly postponed—A24 film gives audiences yet another look into his beautiful mind, the same mind that wrote what might be the perfect Tweet back when Twitter’s logo was a blue bird, and the site had a, um, slightly different vibe: “The letter Q comes up waaaaay too early in the alphabet,” he wrote.