Matthew Monagle
Bryan Cranston Explains Why ‘Power Rangers’ Is a ‘Nice Bookend’ to His Career
After starring in arguably the greatest television series of all time, Bryan Cranston has certainly earned the right to pick any movie or television projects that he darn well pleases. That didn’t prevent a few people from raising their eyebrows when it was announced that Cranston would be joining the cast of the new Power Rangers reboot as their leader and mentor Zordon. Sure, we all know that Cranston got his start as a Power Rangers voice actor back in the day, but is he really so loyal as to work on a new live-action movie when he could be out there, winning Oscars or lighting up Broadway
Ben Affleck Says He Won’t Make ‘The Batman’ if the Script Is Bad
We all know that Ben Affleck’s performance as Batman was one of the few things both critics and fans of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice could completely agree on. From his shallow playboy persona as Bruce Wayne to his thinly veiled rage as the Dark Knight, Affleck’s take on the character got everyone very excited to see what the actor-writer-director could do with a free hand for his standalone The Batman movie. Unfortunately, things have slowed considerably since, with rumors of mediocre scripts and a shifting release date taking some of the buzz off the upcoming release.
Keira Knightley Will Return in ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales’
It seems like forever ago that the original Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl was an unexpected Hollywood hit, a questionable adaptation of a popular carnival ride that somehow managed to be one of the best action movies of the year. In the original film, Johnny Depp surprised us all with his mimicry and knack for physical comedy, even bringing home an Academy Award nomination for his performance as Captain Jack Sparrow. Fast forward a few years, however, and the franchise seems to have devolved into what we originally feared: a hollow cash grab from Disney that has quite clearly overstayed its welcome.
Dom Goes Bad in the First ‘The Fate of the Furious’ Trailer
Sometimes you discover something in your life that you didn’t know you needed until you finally have it. Take, for example, the brand new trailer for The Fate of the Furious. If you’d made me list the 100 different things I want from an action movie, I never would have thought to request a scene where a submarine chases a fleet of vehicles across an ice-field. Now that I’ve seen the first trailer for the film, I kind of wish every action movie was just that scene for ninety minutes.
Samuel L. Jackson Weighs in on Award Season ‘Oscar Bait’ Movies
This past weekend, Samuel L. Jackson received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Dubai International Film Festival and opened up a bit about award season and the types of films that so often receive awards. While Jackson is no stranger to working in Academy Award-nominated movies — his frequent collaborations with Quentin Tarantino have often led to Oscar consideration, and Jackson himself was nominated for Pulp Fiction — the actor was not shy about sharing his thoughts (via The Wrap) on the increasing politicization of award season and the films we are seeing as a result.
Tom Cruise Is Only Mostly Dead in the First Trailer for ‘The Mummy’
Every year, when the bottom drops out of the summer movie season and audiences decide to stay home and watch television instead, some well-meaning critic will publish an article asking if cinema is dead. And every year, I pose the same question in response: “Is Tom Cruise still an action star?” As long as Tom Cruise is running across multiplex screens — fighting rogue nations, government consiparcies, and even the occasional mummy — there is still hope for cinema. Then, when Cruise’s career is done and Hollywood is in ashes, then, cinema, you have my permission to die.
Dwayne Johnson Gets Physical in These New ‘Jumanji’ Fight Photos
Last year, we published a video essay on Arnold Schwarzenegger that suggested that Arnold is much an auteur as the directors he has worked with. While most people still think of movies like Terminator and True Lies as the work of James Cameron, our own Matt Singer argued — and rather persuasively, I might add — that Arnold’s status as a cinematic auteur should be just as important a factor in how we evaluate his films. No matter who is behind the camera of an Arnold movie, you know the types of characters and narratives you are going to get.
The ‘Sicario’ Screenwriter Explains Why Emily Blunt Won’t Be Back for the Sequels
Let’s say you’ve been given three wishes by one of those C-list celebrities that keep appearing as the Ghost of Christmas Whatever in Hallmark specials. What do you wish for? Since I like to think of myself as a good person, I’d probably spend the first two wishes ridding the world of hunger and violence or cleaning up our carbon footprint with a snap of my fingers. But my third? That one I might waste on unlimited money, so I could continue to make movies that solidifies Emily Blunt as the biggest action star of our generation. Forget Scarlett Johansson; after The Huntsman: Winter’s War, Sicario, and Edge of Tomorrow, Blunt is the woman to beat in my book.
Jared Harris Weighs in on Those Dumbledore Rumors for ‘Fantastic Beasts 2’
If there is any silver lining to the quagmire of sadness and disappointment that was 2016, it might just be the overdue recognition of Jared Harris as one of the better talents of the last two decades. Like many incredibly talented actors who don’t fit neatly into the Hollywood mold of the leading man, Harris has spent his career bouncing around as supporting characters and weirdos before finally finding his niche as a middle-aged heavyweight. Call it the Michael Caine career path if you want, but either way, it ends with us finally giving an extremely talented actor his full measure.
Warner Bros. Picks a Director for Its ‘Mortal Kombat’ Reboot
Odds are good that a few of you read this headline and thought, “Wait, there’s a Mortal Kombat reboot in production?” It’s true! Despite mixed success as a feature film and a web-series, Warner Bros. has decided to once again chase that sweet video game industry money with a big screen remake of the popular video game franchise. James Wan — who joined the project all the way back in 2015 as the executive producer — recently described the film as the fantasy version of Enter the Dragon, expressing a great deal of enthusiasm for the universe that he and the Mortal Kombat screenwriters had created.
‘John Wick’ Director David Leitch Officially Gon’ Give It to You in ‘Deadpool 2’
A few weeks ago, Deadpool director Tim Miller shocked the world — or a nerdier and more profane subsection of the world, anyways — by walking away from Deadpool 2. As reporters scrambled to make sense of why Miller would leave one of the breakout franchises of 2016, reports emerged that Miller and star Ryan Reynolds had very conflicting ideas for the upcoming sequel and that 20th Century Fox had thrown their support behind Reynolds’ vision for the franchise. Deadpool 2 was officially in the hands of Ryan Reynolds now, but the film still needed a director, and the hunt was on.
U.S. Court Dismisses MPAA Case Requiring Movies With Smoking to Be R-Rated
As times change, standards change, and we occasionally find ourselves bumping up against old traditions that need to retire. Even some of our most beloved childhood movies feature behavior and activities — smoking, strong language, casual misogyny — that went unnoticed and unappreciated by our older selves. Given the well-established health risks that smoking poses, one person recently took it upon himself to sue Hollywood in an attempt to get onscreen smoking banned. I’ll give a moment to guess who won.