Since its inception in 1977 by creator George Lucas, the Star Wars universe has invited some of Hollywood’s biggest names to participate in telling stories from a galaxy far, far away. On that note, imagine having the chance to star in one of the most iconic film sagas of all time, only to walk away with an unpleasant memory that seemed like it’d never fade.
Can an experience alongside a cinematic legend like Lucas ever be, dare we say, “boring”? Well, for Terence Stamp, acclaimed for his chilling portrayal of the villainous General Zod in Richard Donner’s Superman, a discouraging stint on the set of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace left an indelible mark.
A still from George Lucas’ Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace | Lucasfilm Ltd.
The London-born actor, 85, earlier detailed his less-than-satisfactory experience collaborating with Lucas during the 1999 epic space opera flick.
Can an experience alongside a cinematic legend like Lucas ever be, dare we say, “boring”? Well, for Terence Stamp, acclaimed for his chilling portrayal of the villainous General Zod in Richard Donner’s Superman, a discouraging stint on the set of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace left an indelible mark.
A still from George Lucas’ Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace | Lucasfilm Ltd.
The London-born actor, 85, earlier detailed his less-than-satisfactory experience collaborating with Lucas during the 1999 epic space opera flick.
- 5/25/2024
- by Siddhika Prajapati
- FandomWire
Fill the cannons with stuffed animals and watch the fluff fly as Eli Roth’s Borderlands takes the Lionsgate stage at CinemaCon! The annual entertainment event is in full swing after yesterday’s Warner Bros. panel and reveal of Todd Phillips’s Joker: Folie à Deux trailer. With film and television fans fired up about upcoming releases, Lionsgate is ready to take them to a wasteland where kooky characters try to kill each other, and a fabled vault of riches awaits.
The Last of Us showrunner Craig Mazin wrote the initial screenplay for Borderlands but removed his name from the project after the script was rewritten by Roth, Juel Taylor, Tony Rettenmaier, Joe Crombie, Chris Bremner, and Sam Levinson. Zak Olkewicz wrote scenes for Miller during the reshoots. Elements from drafts Aaron Berg and Oren Uziel wrote before Mazin have reportedly made their way into the film as well. So...
The Last of Us showrunner Craig Mazin wrote the initial screenplay for Borderlands but removed his name from the project after the script was rewritten by Roth, Juel Taylor, Tony Rettenmaier, Joe Crombie, Chris Bremner, and Sam Levinson. Zak Olkewicz wrote scenes for Miller during the reshoots. Elements from drafts Aaron Berg and Oren Uziel wrote before Mazin have reportedly made their way into the film as well. So...
- 4/10/2024
- by Steve Seigh
- JoBlo.com
4K just got a whole lot sharper, as Sony will release Luc Besson’s 1990 action-thriller La Femme Nikita on the format in June, joining other Besson films like 1994’s The Professional and 1997’s The Fifth Element on the format. This release — which comes in a slick steel book — is restored from the original camera negative, with a 4K image that boasts 2160p Ultra High Definition.
Here is Sony’s official writeup for the movie: “From director Luc Besson (The Fifth Element) comes the must-see thriller about a vicious street punk turned sexy, sophisticated and lethally dangerous assassin. Starring Anne Parillaud, Jeanne Moreau and Jean Reno, La Femme Nikita is “slick, stylish and tremendously entertaining” (The New York Times)! Rescued from death row by a top-secret agency, Nikita (Anne Parillaud) is slowly transformed from a cop-killing junkie into a cold-blooded bombshell with a license to kill. But when she begins the deadliest mission of her career,...
Here is Sony’s official writeup for the movie: “From director Luc Besson (The Fifth Element) comes the must-see thriller about a vicious street punk turned sexy, sophisticated and lethally dangerous assassin. Starring Anne Parillaud, Jeanne Moreau and Jean Reno, La Femme Nikita is “slick, stylish and tremendously entertaining” (The New York Times)! Rescued from death row by a top-secret agency, Nikita (Anne Parillaud) is slowly transformed from a cop-killing junkie into a cold-blooded bombshell with a license to kill. But when she begins the deadliest mission of her career,...
- 3/26/2024
- by Mathew Plale
- JoBlo.com
Natalie Portman revealed on a recent episode of the “Smartless” podcast (via People) that Jodie Foster once reached out to her after she heard Portman giving a speech about being sexualized as a young actor. Foster famously skyrocketed at 12 years old when she was cast in Martin Scorsese’s “Taxi Driver” as a child sex worker. Portman, meanwhile, was 11 years old when she was cast in “Léon: The Professional,” which served as her own acting breakthrough.
“I did a speech at a Women’s March about being sexualized as a young actress, and she reached out to me after that, and we talked and it was amazing,” Portman said. “She’s still a role model.”
Portman said that she learned at a young age to project a tough exterior on film sets to avoid sexualization by potential predators.
“That kind of projection of seriousness protected me in a way,” she said.
“I did a speech at a Women’s March about being sexualized as a young actress, and she reached out to me after that, and we talked and it was amazing,” Portman said. “She’s still a role model.”
Portman said that she learned at a young age to project a tough exterior on film sets to avoid sexualization by potential predators.
“That kind of projection of seriousness protected me in a way,” she said.
- 2/26/2024
- by Zack Sharf
- Variety Film + TV
Plot: A band of expert criminals led by Cyrus Whitaker is recruited to do what they do best — lift $500 million in gold from a passenger plane— but they must do it mid-flight at 40,000 feet!
Review: The entire plot of the Quibi/Roku series Die Hart hinges on Kevin Hart wanting to break out of comedy roles so he can be taken seriously as an action hero. While that plot was played for laughs, it was not the first time Hart tried something different. Both his films The Upside and Fatherhood, as well as the Netflix limited series True Story gave Hart more opportunities to channel his dramatic talents, but Lift is the comedian’s first project that is straight action without the reliance on his being the butt of the joke. Cast in a role commonly saved for Hart’s friends Dwayne Johnson and Mark Wahlberg, Lift is a big-budget...
Review: The entire plot of the Quibi/Roku series Die Hart hinges on Kevin Hart wanting to break out of comedy roles so he can be taken seriously as an action hero. While that plot was played for laughs, it was not the first time Hart tried something different. Both his films The Upside and Fatherhood, as well as the Netflix limited series True Story gave Hart more opportunities to channel his dramatic talents, but Lift is the comedian’s first project that is straight action without the reliance on his being the butt of the joke. Cast in a role commonly saved for Hart’s friends Dwayne Johnson and Mark Wahlberg, Lift is a big-budget...
- 1/12/2024
- by Alex Maidy
- JoBlo.com
Exclusive: Briarcliff Entertainment has closed a deal for U.S. distribution rights to DogMan, the Luc Besson-directed revenge thriller that stars Caleb Landry Jones. A first quarter 2024 theatrical release is the plan for a film that made its world premiere this fall at the Venice Film Festival.
Besson wrote the script and Jones stars as an unusual man named Douglas who, having just been arrested, opens his heart to tell the moving story of his life. As a survivor of childhood trauma at the hands of a violent father who forced him to live in the family kennel, Douglas develops a bond with dogs that defies understanding. Out of this hell, he grows to discover love, theatre, and cabaret, but also the injustice and disillusionment of the human world. In a life that’s been broken a thousand times, only the love of his dogs can bring salvation. That...
Besson wrote the script and Jones stars as an unusual man named Douglas who, having just been arrested, opens his heart to tell the moving story of his life. As a survivor of childhood trauma at the hands of a violent father who forced him to live in the family kennel, Douglas develops a bond with dogs that defies understanding. Out of this hell, he grows to discover love, theatre, and cabaret, but also the injustice and disillusionment of the human world. In a life that’s been broken a thousand times, only the love of his dogs can bring salvation. That...
- 10/26/2023
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
Luc Besson, the onetime A-list director who rose to the top of the box office with his kinetic action films, had his career derailed by rape allegations leveled against him in 2018 by Sand Van Roy, an actress on his film “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.” The ensuing legal battle consumed five years of Besson’s life, but after being cleared last June of all charges by the Cour de Cassation, the French equivalent to the Supreme Court, he’s re-emerging at this year’s Venice Film Festival with the indie drama “Dogman.”
But will the industry work with Besson? That’s one of the questions that we discuss during a lengthy interview at the Plaza Athénée Hotel in Paris on the eve of his big premiere. Besson is evasive about the matter, preferring to talk up his latest effort, the story of a bruised man who faces...
But will the industry work with Besson? That’s one of the questions that we discuss during a lengthy interview at the Plaza Athénée Hotel in Paris on the eve of his big premiere. Besson is evasive about the matter, preferring to talk up his latest effort, the story of a bruised man who faces...
- 8/31/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Natalie Portman originally got her start by starring in the Luc Besson picture The Professional. But Besson once shared that their working relationship didn’t end when The Professional did.
Director Luc Besson still followed Natalie Portman’s acting career after ‘The Professional’ Natalie Portman | Marc Piasecki/WireImage
Portman made a huge impression on the film industry after starring in Besson’s The Professional. She was just 11-years-old when she nabbed the R-rated feature. Because of the film’s mature content, she asserted that her parents needed a bit of convincing before she could do the project.
“It was definitely a big conversation in our household before they allowed me to do it,” she once told TIFF. “My parents are not related to the film industry at all and they were very much like, ‘Child actors become drug addicts, prisoners. This is not the road we want you to take.
Director Luc Besson still followed Natalie Portman’s acting career after ‘The Professional’ Natalie Portman | Marc Piasecki/WireImage
Portman made a huge impression on the film industry after starring in Besson’s The Professional. She was just 11-years-old when she nabbed the R-rated feature. Because of the film’s mature content, she asserted that her parents needed a bit of convincing before she could do the project.
“It was definitely a big conversation in our household before they allowed me to do it,” she once told TIFF. “My parents are not related to the film industry at all and they were very much like, ‘Child actors become drug addicts, prisoners. This is not the road we want you to take.
- 8/31/2023
- by Antonio Stallings
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Lido red carpets may be star-deprived this year, but that didn’t stop the Venice Film Festival from arranging a gorgeous constellation of new movies from supernova directors. (The full lineup is here.)
The SAG-AFTRA strike work stoppage means, of course, that competition directors like Yorgos Lanthimos (“Poor Things”), David Fincher (“The Killer”), Sofia Coppola (“Priscilla”), Ava DuVernay, Saverio Costanzo (“Finalmente L’Alba”), and Michel Franco (“Memory”) will have to do the talking at press conferences and attend step-and-repeats without their actors, if they’re willing. It’s tricky for multihyphenates like Bradley Cooper, who directs and stars as Leonard Bernstein in Netflix’s “Maestro;” IndieWire hears he will sit this festival out.
Among the Venice film stars who will not be waving to the paparazzi from water taxis are Emma Stone, Margaret Qualley, Carey Mulligan, Michael Fassbender, Tilda Swinton, Adam Driver, Penelope Cruz, Jacob Elordi, Aunjanue Ellis, Lily James, Joe Keery,...
The SAG-AFTRA strike work stoppage means, of course, that competition directors like Yorgos Lanthimos (“Poor Things”), David Fincher (“The Killer”), Sofia Coppola (“Priscilla”), Ava DuVernay, Saverio Costanzo (“Finalmente L’Alba”), and Michel Franco (“Memory”) will have to do the talking at press conferences and attend step-and-repeats without their actors, if they’re willing. It’s tricky for multihyphenates like Bradley Cooper, who directs and stars as Leonard Bernstein in Netflix’s “Maestro;” IndieWire hears he will sit this festival out.
Among the Venice film stars who will not be waving to the paparazzi from water taxis are Emma Stone, Margaret Qualley, Carey Mulligan, Michael Fassbender, Tilda Swinton, Adam Driver, Penelope Cruz, Jacob Elordi, Aunjanue Ellis, Lily James, Joe Keery,...
- 7/25/2023
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Luc Besson — the French filmmaker behind The Professional, The Fifth Element, and La Femme Nikita — has been cleared of all charges in the alleged rape of actress Sand Van Roy.
According to legal documents acquired by Rolling Stone, the ruling came Wednesday via the French high court the Cour de Cassation, who declared that “after examining the admissibility of the appeal and the files from the instruction, the Cour de Cassation has determined that there doesn’t exist, at present, any means to allow for the admission of the appeal.
According to legal documents acquired by Rolling Stone, the ruling came Wednesday via the French high court the Cour de Cassation, who declared that “after examining the admissibility of the appeal and the files from the instruction, the Cour de Cassation has determined that there doesn’t exist, at present, any means to allow for the admission of the appeal.
- 6/21/2023
- by Brenna Ehrlich
- Rollingstone.com
French actress-writer-director Maïwenn has confessed to a bit of Franco-American culture clash on the set of her latest movie, Jeanne du Barry. The Cannes opener stars Johnny Depp in his first feature film role in three years, as Louis Xv, and Maïwenn as the 18th century monarch’s favorite mistress. In a recent interview with French Premiere, the filmmaker said that she had been warned not to knock on Depp’s dressing-room door during filming to let him know she was waiting. “One day, I did it anyway,” she said. “And there, he made me understand that I had committed an unacceptable intrusion and asked me how I would have felt if he came knocking on my dressing room door. I replied that everyone does it all the time. Because that’s how a set works in France!”
That’s how a set works in Hollywood, too, or it should anyway.
That’s how a set works in Hollywood, too, or it should anyway.
- 5/16/2023
- by Rebecca Keegan
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
In a movie career that stretches back 25 years, Jennifer Lopez has on occasion done flaked-out underworld thriller romance (“Out of Sight”), capery action (“Parker”) and revenge (“Enough”). Yet she has never placed herself at the center of such a down-and-dirty, grimly overwrought, execute-now-and-ask-questions-later B-movie as “The Mother.” I’m tempted to call the film “minimalist,” because if you consider its bare-bones screenplay (by three writers!), its convoluted utilitarian set-up, its 2D villains, and its essential formulaic momentum, it’s a prime example of action filmmaking made basic.
Yet “The Mother” is a Netflix action movie, which means that it has a certain flavor of ambition mixed into its pulp stew. The movie, which should have been 90 minutes long (it’s 116), is lumpy and inflated, it’s sketchy yet a touch grandiose, and it’s full of tersely dramatized scenes that somehow feel overly broad. Lopez, as a military sniper turned...
Yet “The Mother” is a Netflix action movie, which means that it has a certain flavor of ambition mixed into its pulp stew. The movie, which should have been 90 minutes long (it’s 116), is lumpy and inflated, it’s sketchy yet a touch grandiose, and it’s full of tersely dramatized scenes that somehow feel overly broad. Lopez, as a military sniper turned...
- 5/12/2023
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
Maïwenn Lo Besco (known simply as Maïwenn) has admitted to assaulting a French journalist. She made the admission on a live French talk show called “Quotidian.”
Last month Maïwenn was accused of assaulting Edwy Plenel, the editor-in-chief of Mediapart, an online investigative newspaper, during a February encounter. Plenel said he was having dinner with his lawyer when Maïwenn walked over, grabbed his hair and spit in his face. Plenel said the encounter was “damaging on a moral and psychological level” and after the supposed attack was left feeling “very traumatized.”
Also Read:
Ava DuVernay Overall Deal to End at Warner Bros. Television
It was unclear what the motivation for the alleged assault could have been, although there speculation that it was because the site was reporting on the sexual assault allegations leveled against French filmmaker Luc Besson. Besson is Maïwenn’s ex-husband from 1992 to 1997. They started dating when she was...
Last month Maïwenn was accused of assaulting Edwy Plenel, the editor-in-chief of Mediapart, an online investigative newspaper, during a February encounter. Plenel said he was having dinner with his lawyer when Maïwenn walked over, grabbed his hair and spit in his face. Plenel said the encounter was “damaging on a moral and psychological level” and after the supposed attack was left feeling “very traumatized.”
Also Read:
Ava DuVernay Overall Deal to End at Warner Bros. Television
It was unclear what the motivation for the alleged assault could have been, although there speculation that it was because the site was reporting on the sexual assault allegations leveled against French filmmaker Luc Besson. Besson is Maïwenn’s ex-husband from 1992 to 1997. They started dating when she was...
- 5/11/2023
- by Drew Taylor
- The Wrap
Canadian rockers The Beaches have readied their second proper studio album, Blame My Ex. The record arrives September 15th, but with lead single “Blame Brett,” out now, you already know who to blame for Jordan Miller’s problems.
“Blame Brett” allows The Beaches’ singer-bassist to explain that her newfound commitment issues are the result of a broken heart. “I’m sorry in advance/ I’m only gonna treat you bad/ I’m probably gonna let you down/ I’m probably gonna sleep around,” she sings, over vibrant guitar. “But don’t blame me, blame Brett/ Blame my ex, blame my ex, blame my ex.”
The single has “a little bit of a misleading title,” Miller said in a statement. “It’s not really about my relationship. It’s about feeling vulnerable and afraid to open your heart to someone new. I’m basically talking to my future partners, explaining that...
“Blame Brett” allows The Beaches’ singer-bassist to explain that her newfound commitment issues are the result of a broken heart. “I’m sorry in advance/ I’m only gonna treat you bad/ I’m probably gonna let you down/ I’m probably gonna sleep around,” she sings, over vibrant guitar. “But don’t blame me, blame Brett/ Blame my ex, blame my ex, blame my ex.”
The single has “a little bit of a misleading title,” Miller said in a statement. “It’s not really about my relationship. It’s about feeling vulnerable and afraid to open your heart to someone new. I’m basically talking to my future partners, explaining that...
- 5/6/2023
- by Carys Anderson
- Consequence - Music
(Clockwise from Top Left): Chicken Run (Dreamworks), Last Action Hero (Columbia Pictures), Starship Troopers (TriStar Pictures), Léon: The Professional (Buena Vista International)Graphic: AVClub
May is the start of the summer movie season which means Netflix—along with the other streamers—will have to up their game to...
May is the start of the summer movie season which means Netflix—along with the other streamers—will have to up their game to...
- 5/3/2023
- by Don Lewis
- avclub.com
Must-watch comedy series, eye-opening documentaries and an expansion of the “Bridgerton” universe are among the noteworthy additions to Netflix this month. May 12 sees the premiere of Jennifer Lopez’s new Netflix original film “The Mother,” in which she plays an assassin lured back in for one last job. And on May 23, the documentary “Victim/Suspect” examines how sexual assault victims too often get turned into suspects when they report their assaults.
“Queen Charlotte,” the “Bridgerton” prequel series, arrives on May 4 while a new season of Tim Robinson’s sketch series “I Think You Should Leave” drops on May 30. And if you missed the most recent season of the niche (but delightful) comedy series “Documentary Now!,” you can stream that on Netflix starting May 9.
Check out the full list of what’s new on Netflix in May 2023 below.
Also Read:
The 50 Best Movies on Netflix Right Now Arriving May 1
Above Suspicion
Airport...
“Queen Charlotte,” the “Bridgerton” prequel series, arrives on May 4 while a new season of Tim Robinson’s sketch series “I Think You Should Leave” drops on May 30. And if you missed the most recent season of the niche (but delightful) comedy series “Documentary Now!,” you can stream that on Netflix starting May 9.
Check out the full list of what’s new on Netflix in May 2023 below.
Also Read:
The 50 Best Movies on Netflix Right Now Arriving May 1
Above Suspicion
Airport...
- 5/1/2023
- by Adam Chitwood
- The Wrap
Netflix recently announced it would be investing $2.5 billion into South Korean programming. Before Squid Game season 2 comes down the pike, however, the first seeds of that investment will bear fruit for Netflix in May 2023.
Netflix’s list of new releases for May 2023 is highlighted by the May 12 release of Korean series Black Knight. Set “in a dystopian 2071 devastated by air pollution,” this show will follow world-saving deliverymen known as “Black Knights.” Other international offerings this month include Japanese sumo drama Sanctuary on May 4 and Spanish crime thriller Muted on May 19.
Netflix’s domestic TV options this month include Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story on May 4. That will be followed by post-apocalyptic animated comedy Mulligan on May 12 and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s TV debut Fubar on May 25. And for those hoping for “triples,” I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson premieres on May 30.
On the movie side of things, Netflix has an unusually busy month.
Netflix’s list of new releases for May 2023 is highlighted by the May 12 release of Korean series Black Knight. Set “in a dystopian 2071 devastated by air pollution,” this show will follow world-saving deliverymen known as “Black Knights.” Other international offerings this month include Japanese sumo drama Sanctuary on May 4 and Spanish crime thriller Muted on May 19.
Netflix’s domestic TV options this month include Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story on May 4. That will be followed by post-apocalyptic animated comedy Mulligan on May 12 and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s TV debut Fubar on May 25. And for those hoping for “triples,” I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson premieres on May 30.
On the movie side of things, Netflix has an unusually busy month.
- 5/1/2023
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
French actor Alain Delon has been a revolutionary presence in the film industry for decades.
From his early work in the ‘60s to more recent films like The Professional, Alain Delon has challenged ideas about acting and storytelling. He has created a unique style of performance that is both powerful and subtle. He is also credited with popularizing the ‘anti-hero’ type of character – a morally ambiguous figure who often exists outside traditional violence or justice systems.
Delon’s influence on filmmaking has been immense, but it’s not just about his individual performances: his work was also driven by philosophy and activism. Throughout his career, he became an outspoken advocate for gay rights and gender equality – two issues that were not widely discussed at the time.
In this article, we’ll explore Delon’s revolutionary impact on cinema and culture, looking at his career highlights, acting styles and philosophies.
Alain...
From his early work in the ‘60s to more recent films like The Professional, Alain Delon has challenged ideas about acting and storytelling. He has created a unique style of performance that is both powerful and subtle. He is also credited with popularizing the ‘anti-hero’ type of character – a morally ambiguous figure who often exists outside traditional violence or justice systems.
Delon’s influence on filmmaking has been immense, but it’s not just about his individual performances: his work was also driven by philosophy and activism. Throughout his career, he became an outspoken advocate for gay rights and gender equality – two issues that were not widely discussed at the time.
In this article, we’ll explore Delon’s revolutionary impact on cinema and culture, looking at his career highlights, acting styles and philosophies.
Alain...
- 4/4/2023
- by Movies Martin Cid Magazine
- Martin Cid Magazine - Movies
After securing major distribution deals at the EFM, Luc Besson’s next film “Dogman” starring Caleb Landry Jones, is now eyeing a launch in the festival circuit this fall, Variety has learned.
The movie’s French release, initially planned for April 19, has been pushed to the fall to allow distributors to prepare a coordinated global release after a launch at an A-category festival. It would mark the first Besson-directed movie to open at a festival in decades. His wild space opera movie “The Fifth Element” was the opening night movie of the 50th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in 1997.
Besson’s first film since his 2019 actioner “Anna,” “Dogman” is rumored to mark a return to form for the French director. Based on the trailer which we saw before the Berlinale, the film will be closer to some of his early work, notably “The Professional” and “Nikita” which were character-driven movies with a darker edge.
The movie’s French release, initially planned for April 19, has been pushed to the fall to allow distributors to prepare a coordinated global release after a launch at an A-category festival. It would mark the first Besson-directed movie to open at a festival in decades. His wild space opera movie “The Fifth Element” was the opening night movie of the 50th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in 1997.
Besson’s first film since his 2019 actioner “Anna,” “Dogman” is rumored to mark a return to form for the French director. Based on the trailer which we saw before the Berlinale, the film will be closer to some of his early work, notably “The Professional” and “Nikita” which were character-driven movies with a darker edge.
- 2/28/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Jean Reno is an internationally renowned French actor best known for his roles in Hollywood films such as The Professional, Léon: The Professional, Godzilla and Mission Impossible. Born Juan Moreno y Herrera-Jiménez in Casablanca in Morocco on July 30th 1948, he moved to France at the age of three with his family.
Jean Reno. Depostiphotos
Reno’s first foray into acting came while still a student when he joined a local theater group. His professional debut was in the play “Molière,” which was followed by many other stage performances. After appearing as an extra in several movies, Reno’s big break came when he was cast as a corrupt police officer in Nikita (1990). This performance earned him an award for Best Supporting Actor at the Cannes Film Festival.
Since then, Reno has gone on to star in numerous successful films including The Da Vinci Code (2006), Les Visiteurs (1993), Ronin (1998) and Godard’s...
Jean Reno. Depostiphotos
Reno’s first foray into acting came while still a student when he joined a local theater group. His professional debut was in the play “Molière,” which was followed by many other stage performances. After appearing as an extra in several movies, Reno’s big break came when he was cast as a corrupt police officer in Nikita (1990). This performance earned him an award for Best Supporting Actor at the Cannes Film Festival.
Since then, Reno has gone on to star in numerous successful films including The Da Vinci Code (2006), Les Visiteurs (1993), Ronin (1998) and Godard’s...
- 2/25/2023
- by Movies Martin Cid Magazine
- Martin Cid Magazine - Movies
Luc Besson’s ”Dogman,” starring Caleb Landry Jones, wowed buyers at the Berlin’s European Film Market, where it was screened for select buyers.
“We hosted only one private screening of the completed film and buyers were stunned, they all came out saying that it was Luc Besson’s best film to date, his most mature movie and some even called it a masterpiece,” said Gregoire Melin, founder of Kinology, which is handling sales on the film.
On the heels of the screening, Kinology closed deals with some of the biggest distributors in key international territories, including Italy (Lucky Red), Germany and Austria (Capelight Pictures), Spain and Latin America (Sun Distribution Group), Scandinavia (Svensk Filmindustri), Benelux (Belga Films), Switzerland (Elite Film), Middle East (Front Row), Poland (Monolith), Portugal (Nos Lusomundo Audiovisuais), Czech Republic and Slovakia (Aqs) and former Yugoslavia (Blitz).
Kinology is in active talks to close deals for the U.
“We hosted only one private screening of the completed film and buyers were stunned, they all came out saying that it was Luc Besson’s best film to date, his most mature movie and some even called it a masterpiece,” said Gregoire Melin, founder of Kinology, which is handling sales on the film.
On the heels of the screening, Kinology closed deals with some of the biggest distributors in key international territories, including Italy (Lucky Red), Germany and Austria (Capelight Pictures), Spain and Latin America (Sun Distribution Group), Scandinavia (Svensk Filmindustri), Benelux (Belga Films), Switzerland (Elite Film), Middle East (Front Row), Poland (Monolith), Portugal (Nos Lusomundo Audiovisuais), Czech Republic and Slovakia (Aqs) and former Yugoslavia (Blitz).
Kinology is in active talks to close deals for the U.
- 2/19/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Natalie Portman got an early start in the film industry after having starred in the 1994 feature The Professional. But the attention that came Portman’s way afterwards proved to be a bit overwhelming back then.
Natalie Portman’s parents weren’t sure they wanted her to be a child star Natalie Portman | Emma McIntyre/WireImage
Portman already had a passion for performing at a young age. Growing up around other like-minded artists with similar interests only helped fuel her passion and creativity.
“I was just always really into performing when I was little. I loved dancing, singing, putting on shows for the family. Because I lived on Long Island, a lot of kids in Long Island would do commercials and auditions for TV shows and stuff,” she once recalled in an interview with TIFF.
After convincing her parents to get an agent for auditions, Portman would eventually find herself in...
Natalie Portman’s parents weren’t sure they wanted her to be a child star Natalie Portman | Emma McIntyre/WireImage
Portman already had a passion for performing at a young age. Growing up around other like-minded artists with similar interests only helped fuel her passion and creativity.
“I was just always really into performing when I was little. I loved dancing, singing, putting on shows for the family. Because I lived on Long Island, a lot of kids in Long Island would do commercials and auditions for TV shows and stuff,” she once recalled in an interview with TIFF.
After convincing her parents to get an agent for auditions, Portman would eventually find herself in...
- 1/31/2023
- by Antonio Stallings
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
After winning best actor at Cannes with Justin Kurzel’s “Nitram,” Caleb Landry Jones is poised to gain further international recognition with another towering and intense performance in “DogMan.”
The anticipated movie, which is now in post and will mark Luc Besson’s directorial comeback after his 2019 film “Lucy,” was teased with a trailer at a private exhibition event in Paris, at the Grand Rex theater, on Jan. 24.
Introduced on stage by Besson, the trailer delivers a glimpse at the movie’s emotionally charged scenes with Landry Jones filling nearly every frame. The Texas-born musician and actor stars as Douglas, a man who was abused as a child by his violent father and viciously thrown to dogs. Instead of attacking him, the dogs came to protect him and became his allies in life. On a journey to heal from childhood trauma and physical injury, Douglas seeks to find his own path,...
The anticipated movie, which is now in post and will mark Luc Besson’s directorial comeback after his 2019 film “Lucy,” was teased with a trailer at a private exhibition event in Paris, at the Grand Rex theater, on Jan. 24.
Introduced on stage by Besson, the trailer delivers a glimpse at the movie’s emotionally charged scenes with Landry Jones filling nearly every frame. The Texas-born musician and actor stars as Douglas, a man who was abused as a child by his violent father and viciously thrown to dogs. Instead of attacking him, the dogs came to protect him and became his allies in life. On a journey to heal from childhood trauma and physical injury, Douglas seeks to find his own path,...
- 1/24/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Aiello in Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing".
Actor Danny Aiello has passed away at age 86 following a brief illness. Aiello didn't start acting until age 34 but when he did, he became a reliable and popular character actor. He was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar in Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing", playing the owner of a pizza parlor trying to navigate boiling racial tensions in the neighborhood. He also had a memorable role in Norman Jewison's "Moonstruck". Other films include "The Godfather Part II", "The Front", "The Purple Rose of Cairo", "Radio Days" (the latter three with Woody Allen), "Fingers", "Fort Apache the Bronx", "The Cemetary Club", "Ready to Wear", "The Professional", "Once Upon a Time in America" and "Prince of the City". Although Aiello worked with some of the most legendary directors, his one regret was not having been cast in a Martin Scorsese film.
Actor Danny Aiello has passed away at age 86 following a brief illness. Aiello didn't start acting until age 34 but when he did, he became a reliable and popular character actor. He was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar in Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing", playing the owner of a pizza parlor trying to navigate boiling racial tensions in the neighborhood. He also had a memorable role in Norman Jewison's "Moonstruck". Other films include "The Godfather Part II", "The Front", "The Purple Rose of Cairo", "Radio Days" (the latter three with Woody Allen), "Fingers", "Fort Apache the Bronx", "The Cemetary Club", "Ready to Wear", "The Professional", "Once Upon a Time in America" and "Prince of the City". Although Aiello worked with some of the most legendary directors, his one regret was not having been cast in a Martin Scorsese film.
- 12/13/2019
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Welcome to the DC Extended Universe, Cathy Yan. She won the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Prize at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival for her bracing debut “Dead Pigs,” and was quickly scooped by Warner Bros. and DC to helm “Birds of Prey.” Subtitled “The Fantabulous Emancipation of One Miss Harley Quinn,” the tentpole is led by Margot Robbie’s cupid of crime in a candy-colored display of female power.
During a recent chat with /Film, Yan spoke about the cinematic influences on “Birds of Prey,” and with this introduction to the film, she has certainly set a high bar of expectations for her upcoming DC debut.
“The way that I sort of talked about the structure of the film is a bit like ‘Pulp Fiction’ meets ‘Rashomon.’ So it’s an unconventional structure,” Yan said. “For me, there’s a lot of my favorite filmmakers that have influences on this film,...
During a recent chat with /Film, Yan spoke about the cinematic influences on “Birds of Prey,” and with this introduction to the film, she has certainly set a high bar of expectations for her upcoming DC debut.
“The way that I sort of talked about the structure of the film is a bit like ‘Pulp Fiction’ meets ‘Rashomon.’ So it’s an unconventional structure,” Yan said. “For me, there’s a lot of my favorite filmmakers that have influences on this film,...
- 12/10/2019
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
It’s been 17 long years since “Rules of Attraction” director Roger Avary has released a film, during which time he was involved in a deadly car crash, charged with gross vehicle manslaughter, saw a work furlough translated into actual prison time, and watched things go south with Video Archives amigo Quentin Tarantino over the “Pulp Fiction” credit fiasco. Those are setbacks that might break the spine of a lesser scribe, but in Avary’s case, it seems to have strengthened his resolve to write — although until now, virtually nothing has been produced to show for it. Not for lack of trying. Some people are good at directing movies, and others are good at getting movies to direct. Avary hustled a number of projects, and somehow, “Lucky Day” was the first to get made.
The movie marks a curious comeback, . Where Avary’s other films have innovated and unsettled, this one’s clever but safe,...
The movie marks a curious comeback, . Where Avary’s other films have innovated and unsettled, this one’s clever but safe,...
- 10/14/2019
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
Welcome to this week’s Major League Wrestling: Fusion review, right here on Nerdly. I’m Nathan Favel and Tony Schiavone is back on commentary this week, so get your clicker ready to skip that lousy Mankind/Rock title match. Yeah, that’ll put butts in seats.
Match #1: Low Ki defeated Jimmy Yuta The following is courtesy of mlw.com:
“The Professional” has indeed been a real pro at knocking opponents out cold and even though Yuta has a few inches on Low Ki, the wily vet was ready for quick work. Yuta was squaring to grapple up with Low Ki, but a quick boot to the face sat Yuta down for the quick Ko that led to referee Doug Markham signaling for the bell.
My Opinion: 1.5 out of 5 – This was a short squash, but Low Ki gave a cool kick.
Match #2: The Von Erichs (Marshall and Ross Von Erich...
Match #1: Low Ki defeated Jimmy Yuta The following is courtesy of mlw.com:
“The Professional” has indeed been a real pro at knocking opponents out cold and even though Yuta has a few inches on Low Ki, the wily vet was ready for quick work. Yuta was squaring to grapple up with Low Ki, but a quick boot to the face sat Yuta down for the quick Ko that led to referee Doug Markham signaling for the bell.
My Opinion: 1.5 out of 5 – This was a short squash, but Low Ki gave a cool kick.
Match #2: The Von Erichs (Marshall and Ross Von Erich...
- 8/5/2019
- by Nathan Favel
- Nerdly
Artist ApexForm has posted a piece of concept art of what Natalie Portman might look like when we see her next in the upcoming film, Thor: Love and Thunder, in which she is set to play The Mighty Thor. Fans are divided on the casting choice, and the ones who are okay with it are even still a little hesitant. But one thing is for sure, she’s going to get jacked! She even said so when she announced her role on Instagram after the Hall H panel. She posted the picture of herself onstage holding Mjölnir, and said you could count it as her before picture before she gets jacked.
So that’s something the artist definitely took into consideration as this piece of art has Portman looking very strong. I don’t know that she has the ability to get this big on her little frame, but it...
So that’s something the artist definitely took into consideration as this piece of art has Portman looking very strong. I don’t know that she has the ability to get this big on her little frame, but it...
- 7/28/2019
- by Jessica Fisher
- GeekTyrant
Updated with EuropaCorp statement: Luc Besson’s embattled EuropaCorp has responded to a report in French weekly, Le Journal du Dimanche, which said on Sunday the studio was entering a deal that would see NY-based Vine Alternative Investments come to its rescue. In a statement provided to Deadline, Europa confirmed discussions “with several financial partners including the group Vine, as part of the restructuring of its debt and the strengthening of its financial capacity.”
Vine, Europa said, “has expressed interest in a potential stake in the capital of the company” and talks are ongoing. As of March 31, EuropaCorp’s net debt stood at $181M. In May, the company was granted a six-month debt waiver to give it time to balance the books. Vine would be expected to convert Europa’s debt into capital shares.
A rescue deal between Europa and Vine was reportedly hatched on July 3 in the office of the French judicial administrator.
Vine, Europa said, “has expressed interest in a potential stake in the capital of the company” and talks are ongoing. As of March 31, EuropaCorp’s net debt stood at $181M. In May, the company was granted a six-month debt waiver to give it time to balance the books. Vine would be expected to convert Europa’s debt into capital shares.
A rescue deal between Europa and Vine was reportedly hatched on July 3 in the office of the French judicial administrator.
- 7/14/2019
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
This is a weekend of twin disappointments. First up: While “Toy Story 4” handily crossed a $100 million three-day opening, at $118 million in sales it fell significantly short of Disney’s (conservative) $140 million three-day estimate.
Second, and somewhat related: Year over year, box-office totals fell at least $75 million below the same three-day period in 2018. Expect the 2019 shortfall to be around $540 million by the end of this weekend. Still, there are three more top franchises or sequels between now and the end of July; June and July last year had only two, so the outlook for improvement remains.
Disney spin is already in play, but the “Toy Story 4” performance comes as concern rises that the sequel/franchise theatrical model is losing currency. Of course, $118 million is a strong number, but the degree to which this fell short of minimal expectations has to scare careful observers. It creates pressure to find alternatives,...
Second, and somewhat related: Year over year, box-office totals fell at least $75 million below the same three-day period in 2018. Expect the 2019 shortfall to be around $540 million by the end of this weekend. Still, there are three more top franchises or sequels between now and the end of July; June and July last year had only two, so the outlook for improvement remains.
Disney spin is already in play, but the “Toy Story 4” performance comes as concern rises that the sequel/franchise theatrical model is losing currency. Of course, $118 million is a strong number, but the degree to which this fell short of minimal expectations has to scare careful observers. It creates pressure to find alternatives,...
- 6/23/2019
- by Tom Brueggemann
- Indiewire
Luc Besson’s lifelong obsession with female empowerment has always been hard to square with his lifelong hobby of female objectification. The stylish French auteur and film mogul responsible for the likes of “Lucy,” “The Professional,” and at least nine alleged instances of sexual impropriety loves to build movies around blank women — usually fashion models — who can be reformatted with the power of his own design and costumed with the scant agency he’s afforded them.
In “Anna,” a competent spy thriller that would feel anonymous if not for its slinky bodies and recognizable psychosexual undercurrents, Besson’s signature tendency is expressed with the same literalness that it was in “The Fifth Element” and “La Femme Nikita.” Why start being subtle about it now? Caught in a tug-of-war between the CIA and the Kgb, the heroine this time around — a lithe Russian model named Anna who’s played by a...
In “Anna,” a competent spy thriller that would feel anonymous if not for its slinky bodies and recognizable psychosexual undercurrents, Besson’s signature tendency is expressed with the same literalness that it was in “The Fifth Element” and “La Femme Nikita.” Why start being subtle about it now? Caught in a tug-of-war between the CIA and the Kgb, the heroine this time around — a lithe Russian model named Anna who’s played by a...
- 6/21/2019
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
"What do you want most in the world?" EuropaCorp has debuted a new full-length French trailer for Anna, the latest action film written & directed by French filmmaker Luc Besson. The film is opening in Us theaters later this week - in case anyone is still excited to see it. The first trailers (with an international teaser) dropped back in April. Russian supermodel Sasha Luss, making her acting debut, stars as Anna. "Beneath Anna Poliatova's striking beauty lies a secret that will unleash her indelible strength and skill to become one of the world's most feared assassins." The cast includes Helen Mirren, Cillian Murphy, Luke Evans, Lera Abova, Alexander Petrov, & Anna Krippa. I'm sure the action in this will be cool, but I'm not sure about the rest of it. Impressive cast at least. Here's the new international trailer (+ another poster) for Luc Besson's Anna, direct from YouTube: You can...
- 6/16/2019
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
After a couple of years searching in vain for a way out of persistent financial trouble, Luc Besson’s EuropaCorp could end up in the hands of Jerome Seydoux’s French film powerhouse, Pathé. It would be a sort of homecoming for Besson, who started his filmmaking career making movies such as “Nikita” and “The Professional” with Seydoux’s brother Nicolas at Gaumont.
Pathé is currently in advanced negotiations to take a majority stake in EuropaCorp and stands as the only serious bidder at this point, according to three financing sources. As part of a deal, the stakes held by Besson’s company, Frontline (38%), and China’s Fundamental (28%) would be diluted, the sources said.
Time is of the essence for EuropaCorp, which was granted a six-month debt waiver in May from a French commercial court to give it more time to stabilize its finances. The company has been working with...
Pathé is currently in advanced negotiations to take a majority stake in EuropaCorp and stands as the only serious bidder at this point, according to three financing sources. As part of a deal, the stakes held by Besson’s company, Frontline (38%), and China’s Fundamental (28%) would be diluted, the sources said.
Time is of the essence for EuropaCorp, which was granted a six-month debt waiver in May from a French commercial court to give it more time to stabilize its finances. The company has been working with...
- 6/7/2019
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
If you’re a fan of actor Jean Reno (The Professional), you might be interested in checking out his new action thriller Cold Blood. The first trailer has been released for the movie, and it looks like it will be a pretty good action flick!
The film tells the story of a legendary hitman named Henry, who “retires in isolation to the barren North American wilderness. When he rescues a woman from a snowmobile accident, he discovers she may be harboring a secret that could force a return to his lethal ways.” I guess retirement for Henry doesn’t go as planned as he has to decide whether or not to risk his own life to save this woman.
The movie also stars Sarah Lind as Melody, Joe Anderson, David Gyasi, Ihor Ciszkewycz, François Guétary, and Samantha Bond.
The movie was directed by Frédéric Petitjean and it will be released on July 5th.
The film tells the story of a legendary hitman named Henry, who “retires in isolation to the barren North American wilderness. When he rescues a woman from a snowmobile accident, he discovers she may be harboring a secret that could force a return to his lethal ways.” I guess retirement for Henry doesn’t go as planned as he has to decide whether or not to risk his own life to save this woman.
The movie also stars Sarah Lind as Melody, Joe Anderson, David Gyasi, Ihor Ciszkewycz, François Guétary, and Samantha Bond.
The movie was directed by Frédéric Petitjean and it will be released on July 5th.
- 6/6/2019
- by Joey Paur
- GeekTyrant
Veteran actor Jean Reno has been tapped to star in “Rogue City,” a thriller that sees director Olivier Marchal re-team with French studio Gaumont.
Budgeted at $13 million, the film is set in Marseille and follows an anti-gang cop (Reno) with unorthodox methods who investigates a shooting at a local nightclub along with his longtime rival.
Lannick Gautry, Stanislas Merhar and David Belle complete the cast. Alain Figlarz, who has previously worked on “Taken 3,” “The Bourne Identity” and “The Transporter,” will be handling the action scenes and stunts.
The movie is set to start shooting on location in the south of France in September. Gaumont will kick off pre-sales for “Rogue City” at Cannes with a fully story-boarded script, and expects to release “Rogue City” in France during the second quarter of 2020.
Marchal is himself a former cop who worked for both the police and French intelligence. Through films such...
Budgeted at $13 million, the film is set in Marseille and follows an anti-gang cop (Reno) with unorthodox methods who investigates a shooting at a local nightclub along with his longtime rival.
Lannick Gautry, Stanislas Merhar and David Belle complete the cast. Alain Figlarz, who has previously worked on “Taken 3,” “The Bourne Identity” and “The Transporter,” will be handling the action scenes and stunts.
The movie is set to start shooting on location in the south of France in September. Gaumont will kick off pre-sales for “Rogue City” at Cannes with a fully story-boarded script, and expects to release “Rogue City” in France during the second quarter of 2020.
Marchal is himself a former cop who worked for both the police and French intelligence. Through films such...
- 5/10/2019
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Writer and director Luc Besson is back with a new action-packed thriller called Anna. Besson sure does enjoy making badass female assassin movies. This one stars Russian supermodel Sasha Luss. She is making her big acting debut here and as you’ll see, she can kick some serious ass!
We have a trailer for Anna for you to watch today and the movie looks like it’s going to be an adrenalin-fueled wild movie. It also has a great supporting cast that includes Helen Mirren, Cillian Murphy, Luke Evans, Lera Abova, Alexander Petrov, and Anna Krippa.
Beneath Anna Poliatova’s striking beauty lies a secret that will unleash her indelible strength and skill to become one of the world’s most feared government assassins. An electrifying thrill ride unfolding with propulsive energy, startling twists and breathtaking action, Anna introduces Sasha Luss in the title role with a star-studded cast including Academy Award Winner Helen Mirren,...
We have a trailer for Anna for you to watch today and the movie looks like it’s going to be an adrenalin-fueled wild movie. It also has a great supporting cast that includes Helen Mirren, Cillian Murphy, Luke Evans, Lera Abova, Alexander Petrov, and Anna Krippa.
Beneath Anna Poliatova’s striking beauty lies a secret that will unleash her indelible strength and skill to become one of the world’s most feared government assassins. An electrifying thrill ride unfolding with propulsive energy, startling twists and breathtaking action, Anna introduces Sasha Luss in the title role with a star-studded cast including Academy Award Winner Helen Mirren,...
- 4/10/2019
- by Joey Paur
- GeekTyrant
"You're next target is in Paris. There'll be no back-up." EuropaCorp has released the first trailer for Anna, the latest action film written & directed by French filmmaker Luc Besson. Besson gives us yet another badass beautiful assassin film, this time starring Russian supermodel Sasha Luss, making her acting debut. Beneath Anna Poliatova's striking beauty lies a secret that will unleash her indelible strength and skill to become one of the world's most feared assassins. The cast includes Helen Mirren, Cillian Murphy, Luke Evans, Lera Abova, Alexander Petrov, and Anna Krippa. This looks really cool, with some slick action. And Helen Mirren looks awesome. But it also looks a bit like every other beautiful female assassin film, hopefully there's something that gives it an edge. Here's the first official trailer (+ alternate French teaser) for Luc Besson's Anna, direct from YouTube: Beneath Anna Poliatova's striking beauty lies a secret that will...
- 4/10/2019
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Under Childhood is a monthly column on children’s cinema—movies about and for kids.1In a notorious bit from his 2004 comedy show For What It’s Worth, comedian Dave Chappelle stops to consider the child pornography charges raised against R&B singer R. Kelly, asking his audience, “How old is fifteen [the age of Kelly’s victim], really?” The contingencies—fifteen years, depending on the situation, are too little or too many—are perplexing even for Chappelle. The problem at hand, he suggests, is not limited to R. Kelly’s actions but the legal and moral discrepancies in how society categorizes the event. If a fifteen-year-old can so sporadically be either an adult or a child, Chappelle wonders, who is to say that fifteen is too young to consent to mature activities? The murkiness of the invisible loopholes is puzzling. But when seen in retrospect, the argument raised by his act seems less a provocation...
- 4/4/2019
- MUBI
No one plays unhinged quite like Natalie Portman, and she’s got another doozy on tap, judging by the first trailer for “Lucy in the Sky” (watch above).
The Oscar winner plays Lucy Cola, an astronaut who loses grip with reality upon her return to Earth and soon starts an affair with another astronaut, Mark (Jon Hamm). “I go up there and see the whole universe and everything here looks so small,” Lucy says in the clip over a shot of her and Mark bowling with a ball painted like Earth. Subtle, guys.
Portman adopts a Southern accent and dons a short wig that looks like the follicular love child of her ‘do in “The Professional” (1994) and Claire Foy‘s bob in “First Man.” As Lucy further unravels, the teaser ends with Lucy running from police and a shot of her in a room (therapy session?) in which she tells...
The Oscar winner plays Lucy Cola, an astronaut who loses grip with reality upon her return to Earth and soon starts an affair with another astronaut, Mark (Jon Hamm). “I go up there and see the whole universe and everything here looks so small,” Lucy says in the clip over a shot of her and Mark bowling with a ball painted like Earth. Subtle, guys.
Portman adopts a Southern accent and dons a short wig that looks like the follicular love child of her ‘do in “The Professional” (1994) and Claire Foy‘s bob in “First Man.” As Lucy further unravels, the teaser ends with Lucy running from police and a shot of her in a room (therapy session?) in which she tells...
- 3/19/2019
- by Joyce Eng
- Gold Derby
Marvel Television executive vice president Jeph Loeb is all too open about why, of all the comic book adaptations he currently produces for television, showrunner Stephen Lightfoot’s “The Punisher” is one of the most complicated. In the gritty Netflix series, avenging angel Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal) has chosen to channel his grief over losing his family into an all-consuming vengeance quest.
“The greatest challenge of the Punisher character is that you have someone who lives in the world of the gray, and you have someone whose immediate answer to many situations is one of real violence,” Loeb said. “He’s very disturbed as a character, he’s very damaged as a character. And so, we happen to think that the take that Steve brings to it and the way that Jon plays the character enables us to see him in a light that you could root for him, I...
“The greatest challenge of the Punisher character is that you have someone who lives in the world of the gray, and you have someone whose immediate answer to many situations is one of real violence,” Loeb said. “He’s very disturbed as a character, he’s very damaged as a character. And so, we happen to think that the take that Steve brings to it and the way that Jon plays the character enables us to see him in a light that you could root for him, I...
- 1/23/2019
- by Liz Shannon Miller
- Indiewire
After nearly 25 years in Hollywood, Natalie Portman has a unique perspective on the dangerous machinations of fame.
It’s a subject central to her new film, Vox Lux, in which the actress, 37, plays a troubled pop icon who survived a childhood trauma that launched her career.
“She is such a wild character, but she’s also someone I felt was a real person, who is the product of this life that has happened to her,” Portman tells People in the magazine’s new issue. “You see in this film how a young girl is packaged into this brand, and it...
It’s a subject central to her new film, Vox Lux, in which the actress, 37, plays a troubled pop icon who survived a childhood trauma that launched her career.
“She is such a wild character, but she’s also someone I felt was a real person, who is the product of this life that has happened to her,” Portman tells People in the magazine’s new issue. “You see in this film how a young girl is packaged into this brand, and it...
- 12/25/2018
- by Kara Warner
- PEOPLE.com
Luc Besson, the French filmmaker whose credits include The Professional, The Fifth Element and La Femme Nikita, has been accused of sexual misconduct by nine women. Four women had previously accused him of misbehavior, and five more recently came forward, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The claims range from inappropriate behavior to sexual assault.
One of the women who came forward with new allegations, reported by the French publication Mediapart, claimed that she was one of Besson’s former assistants and that he “blackmailed” her into a sexual relationship. She wished to remain anonymous.
One of the women who came forward with new allegations, reported by the French publication Mediapart, claimed that she was one of Besson’s former assistants and that he “blackmailed” her into a sexual relationship. She wished to remain anonymous.
- 11/28/2018
- by Kory Grow
- Rollingstone.com
Natalie Portman plays an eccentric pop star navigating the comeback trail in the mesmerizing new trailer for Vox Lux. The film will open in New York and Los Angeles December 7th, with a wider release scheduled for December 14th. The Brady Corbet-directed film tells the story of Celeste, a young woman who survives a violent tragedy then rises to pop superstardom after singing at a memorial service. Raffey Cassidy portrays the younger Celeste, while Portman takes over the role when Celeste is older, prepping a new album and attempting...
- 10/25/2018
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
Welcome to this week’s Mlw: Fusion review, right here on Nerdly. This week, we have is being billed as the first Boiler Room Brawl in twenty years, with Sami Callahan fighting Mvp. Let’s get right to it, with Major League Wrestling!
Match #1: Ach & Rich Swann beat Team Filthy (Tom Lawlor & Simon Gotch) – Tag Team Match The following is courtesy of Mlw.com:
Team Filthy seems to be alienating the entire Mlw roster. They’ve beaten down Jimmy Havoc, defiled Col. Robert Parker’s iconic hat and poked fun at many others. After “Filthy” Tom Lawlor ran his mouth while on commentary during a recent Ach vs. Rich Swann encounter, matchmakers pitted Lawlor and his Team Filthy partner Simon Gotch against the high-flying duo.
Gotch and Swann opened the action with some classic grappling. Swann finally hit the first high-impact maneuver with a dropkick, before tagging in Ach.
Match #1: Ach & Rich Swann beat Team Filthy (Tom Lawlor & Simon Gotch) – Tag Team Match The following is courtesy of Mlw.com:
Team Filthy seems to be alienating the entire Mlw roster. They’ve beaten down Jimmy Havoc, defiled Col. Robert Parker’s iconic hat and poked fun at many others. After “Filthy” Tom Lawlor ran his mouth while on commentary during a recent Ach vs. Rich Swann encounter, matchmakers pitted Lawlor and his Team Filthy partner Simon Gotch against the high-flying duo.
Gotch and Swann opened the action with some classic grappling. Swann finally hit the first high-impact maneuver with a dropkick, before tagging in Ach.
- 7/9/2018
- by Nathan Favel
- Nerdly
Natalie Portman has been a vocal proponent of the "Time's Up" initiative, and in a new interview with Porter magazine, she explained that she’s been diving more and more into her own past experiences as a result of it.
"I went from thinking, 'I don't have a story' to 'Oh, wait, I have 100 stories,'" she said. "And I think a lot of people are having these reckonings with themselves, of things that we just took for granted as, like, this part of the process."
One incident she recalled...
"I went from thinking, 'I don't have a story' to 'Oh, wait, I have 100 stories,'" she said. "And I think a lot of people are having these reckonings with themselves, of things that we just took for granted as, like, this part of the process."
One incident she recalled...
- 2/6/2018
- Rollingstone.com
Natalie Portman shared a harrowing story with the crowd at the Woman’s March in Los Angeles on Saturday, remembering that her first ever fan letter at 13 years-old was a “rape fantasy.” The Oscar winner spoke about the “great discomfort” she’s struggled with as a woman in Hollywood, dating back to when she was a teenager. After wrapping her first film role in “The Professional,” she soon realized the pitfalls of being a young woman in the spotlight. “I excitedly opened my first fan mail to read a rape fantasy that a man had written me,” said Portman. She added a...
- 1/20/2018
- by Sean Burch
- The Wrap
Taraji P. Henson is such a firecracker she almost makes you believe Proud Mary might have been a decent crime flick – if she fired the asses of the clueless dudes who wrote and directed it and took on those jobs herself. Surely, the Oscar-nominated actress (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), the one who lights up the screen in Hidden Figures and as Cookie Lyon on TV's Empire, could have just done an improvisation on this premise and come up with something livelier than this dipshit drivel. As the film's executive producer,...
- 1/13/2018
- Rollingstone.com
The 73rd Venice International Film Festival will award its Golden Lion awards for lifetime achievement to French actor Jean-Paul Belmondo and Polish director Jerzy Skolimowski.
The festival noted that it plans to start awarding two Golden Lions for career achievement at each edition of the festival, starting this year. One will be to a director and one to an actor.
Belmondo is well known for films such as Breathless, Pierrot le Fou (which competed in Venice in 1965), Hit Man, That Man From Rio and The Professional.
Venice festival director Alberto Barbera said: “Thanks to his fascinating face, irresistible charm and extraordinary versatility, he has played roles in dramas, adventure movies and even comedies, making him a star who is universally respected, by engagé directors and escapist cinema alike.”
Skolimowski has enjoyed a 50-year career including his early Polish trilogy of Rysopis, Walkover and Barrier; The Departure; Deep End; The Shout; Moonlighting and Essential Killing (which won a special...
The festival noted that it plans to start awarding two Golden Lions for career achievement at each edition of the festival, starting this year. One will be to a director and one to an actor.
Belmondo is well known for films such as Breathless, Pierrot le Fou (which competed in Venice in 1965), Hit Man, That Man From Rio and The Professional.
Venice festival director Alberto Barbera said: “Thanks to his fascinating face, irresistible charm and extraordinary versatility, he has played roles in dramas, adventure movies and even comedies, making him a star who is universally respected, by engagé directors and escapist cinema alike.”
Skolimowski has enjoyed a 50-year career including his early Polish trilogy of Rysopis, Walkover and Barrier; The Departure; Deep End; The Shout; Moonlighting and Essential Killing (which won a special...
- 7/14/2016
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
Director of witty French comedy-thrillers
Since the dawn of cinema, France has simultaneously and uninterruptedly produced good mainstream movies and arthouse films. Georges Lautner, who has died aged 87, unabashedly claimed that the almost 50 films he directed from 1958 to 1992 belong to the former category. Lautner's mainly cops-and-robbers movies were among the most popular films ever made in France.
"I didn't want glory or to make masterpieces but popular films that would please the greatest number," he once explained. "International recognition didn't interest me. I was passionate at what I did with my faithful team. We made the films we wanted as quickly as possible. But with time, my commercial films appear almost intellectual."
Lautner's underestimated films were never invited to Cannes until, in 2012, the festival put together a belated "Homage to Georges Lautner". His death prompted President François Hollande to declare that his films had "become part of the cinematic heritage...
Since the dawn of cinema, France has simultaneously and uninterruptedly produced good mainstream movies and arthouse films. Georges Lautner, who has died aged 87, unabashedly claimed that the almost 50 films he directed from 1958 to 1992 belong to the former category. Lautner's mainly cops-and-robbers movies were among the most popular films ever made in France.
"I didn't want glory or to make masterpieces but popular films that would please the greatest number," he once explained. "International recognition didn't interest me. I was passionate at what I did with my faithful team. We made the films we wanted as quickly as possible. But with time, my commercial films appear almost intellectual."
Lautner's underestimated films were never invited to Cannes until, in 2012, the festival put together a belated "Homage to Georges Lautner". His death prompted President François Hollande to declare that his films had "become part of the cinematic heritage...
- 12/2/2013
- by Ronald Bergan
- The Guardian - Film News
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This Week’s New Instant Releases…
Promised Lands (1974)
Streaming Available: 04/19/2011
Cast: Documentary
Director: Susan Sontag
Synopsis: Set in Israel during the final days of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, this powerful documentary — initially barred by Israel authorities — from writer-director Susan Sontag examines divergent perceptions of the enduring Arab-Israeli clash. Weighing in on matters related to socialism, anti-Semitism, nation sovereignty and American materialism are The Last Jew writer Yoram Kaniuk and military physicist Yuval Ne’eman.
Vision: From the Life of Hildegard von Bingen (2009)
Streaming Available: 04/19/2011
Cast: Barbara Sukowa, Heino Ferch, Hannah Herzsprung, Gerald Alexander Held, Lena Stolze, Sunnyi Melles
Synopsis: Directed by longtime star of independent German cinema Margarethe von Trotta, this reverent...
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- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
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