News

Guan Hu’s win in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes this year with Black Dog grabbed headlines — and deservedly so.

One of the true stars of China’s Sixth Generation of filmmakers who emerged in the early 1990s, the 56-year-old Guan has, across the past three decades, found a sweet spot that allows him to balance a career making commercial films that ensure his own financial survival, such as the chest-thumping war epic The Eight Hundred, and far edgier and more personal films that satisfy his creative urges.

Black Dog was a case of the latter, with dark humor framing its gritty tale of an ex-con returning to his rural hometown to start his life again. Guan’s win continued a tradition that dates to the 1990s and has seen the Sixth Generation dominate international festivals — and awards — ever since thanks also to the likes of fellow fifty-somethings Jia Zhangke,...

By the pricking of my thumbs, something spoilery this way comes. Warning: This article discusses events from the latest episode of "Agatha All Along."

Yep, here we go again, folks. Old habits die hard, especially among powerful witches, but nothing dies harder than the average Marvel fan's obsession with the infamous entity known as Mephisto. We've been down this road before in "WandaVision" and even "She-Hulk," to name just a pair of Marvel Cinematic Universe installments that played fast and loose with our expectations of when the demonic villain might finally make his live-action debut in the franchise. Well, just in case the latest Disney+ series didn't already have enough going on, "Agatha All Along" has pushed its poker chips all in and actually name-dropped the elusive comic book character during episode 3 -- something that no other property under Kevin Feige's careful supervision has yet dared to do.

What does...

Director Max Minghella wears his cinematic influences on his sleeves with sophomore feature effort Shell, a body horror dark comedy written by Jack Stanley (The Passenger).

Elisabeth Moss (The Invisible Man) finds herself embarking on a scary new beauty treatment as aging actor Samantha Lake. She quickly befriends Zoe Shannon (Kate Hudson), CEO of health & wellness company Shell. When their patients start to go missing, including starlet Chloe Benson (Kaia Gerber), Samantha realizes Shell may be protecting a monstrous secret.

The escapist love letter to ’90s cinema leans into dark comedy, but embraces everything from Paul Verhoeven to Soapdish, Species, and Sliver, if that’s any indicator of genre range here. Bloody Disgusting spoke with Minghella, who made his feature directorial debut with 2018’s Teen Spirit, about the genre-bender out of TIFF, where the film had its World Premiere.

The filmmaker revealed more about his influences, but mores o his...

Shell is a film made with the intention of being a guilty pleasure. It wants to be the film one would encounter on cable in the middle of the day or late at night. Many films have become popular this way, especially before the days of streaming: scrappy little films with a campy sense of humor and talented cast getting to play around and stretch their acting muscles in ways that feel low-stakes for their career. Worst case scenario, the film becomes a curiosity — not good, but fascinating enough in its badness. And the best-case scenario is becoming one of those hidden gems that have a second life on home video.

That’s clearly what director Max Minghella is aiming for with Shell, a campy horror dark comedy about the unfairness of beauty standards in modern society. Six years after his directorial debut, Teen Spirit, Minghella is back at the...

Kate Hudson had to come out of her shell for her scene-stealing turn in Max Minghella’s TIFF-selected dark comedy “Shell.”

The feature, which was written and directed by Minghella and is led his “Handmaid’s Tale” co-star Elisabeth Moss, marks Minghella’s sophomore feature after his 2018 directorial debut “Teen Spirit.”

For Hudson, working with longtime family friend Minghella helped push her into the territory of camp onscreen. Hudson plays a guru-adjacent beauty cosmetics company CEO who enlists an aging actress (Moss) as a client. However, the company has a dark secret…

Kaia Gerber, Arian Moayed, Este Haim, and Elizabeth Berkley also star.

“When you’re making movies, you’re sort of reliant on [director] Max for the tone,” Hudson said of channeling her onscreen alter-ego of CEO Zoe during a recent conversation with IndieWire. “You’re sort of like, ‘How far do I go here? How much do I lean...

In Shell, we meet Samantha Lake, an actress whose career is waning due to Hollywood’s emphasis on youth over talent. Hoping to stay relevant, she turns to renowned wellness entrepreneur Zoe Shannon and her company Shell. Their anti-aging treatments seem too good to be true—and surely enough, there are deeper forces at work beneath the glossy surface.

As Samantha delves further into Shell’s promises of rejuvenation, we start to see cracks in the flawless veneer. Strange side effects emerge, and not everything is as it seems. Minghella’s stylish direction and a stellar cast including Moss and Hudson keep the mystery intriguing. But does the story deliver on its unsettling hints? And what do we really discover about shadows lurking behind Tinseltown’s façade of beauty?

Through Samantha’s journey into Shell’s strange world, this film has the potential to offer social commentary and thrills. Let...

Shell is Max Minghella’s second feature film as a director. Dubbed a “dark comedy and body horror about society’s obsession with youth and good looks,” it stars none other than his The Handmaid’s Tale colleague Elisabeth Moss as a struggling actress opposite Kate Hudson as the CEO of a mysterious, and potentially monstrous, beauty company.

The ensemble cast also includes the likes of Kaia Gerber (Saturday Night, Palm Royale), Elizabeth Berkley (Showgirls, Saved by the Bell), Arian Moayed (Succession), and Este Haim (Licorice Pizza).

In an interview with THR‘s Georg Szalai ahead of the movie’s world premiere in the Special Presentations lineup of the Toronto Film Festival, Minghella discussed how different his experience on Shell was from his first film as a director, what inspired the tone of the movie, and why it has a lot of Look Who’s Talking.

While I was watching Shell,...

Elisabeth Moss (The Invisible Man) finds herself embarking on a scary new beauty treatment in Shell, the upcoming body horror dark comedy from director Max Minghella.

We can exclusively unveil the new poster that teases some of the madness ahead of the film’s world premiere at TIFF. If the poster below is any indication, someone or something is harboring a monstrous beauty secret.

Kate Hudson and Kaia Gerber star alongside Moss in Minghella’s sophomore effort.

In the film, “Down on her luck actress Samantha Lake (Moss) is invited into the ultra glamorous world of Zoe Shannon (Hudson), CEO of health & wellness company Shell. When their patients start to go missing, including starlet Chloe Benson (Gerber), Samantha realizes Shell may be protecting a monstrous secret.”

The body horror dark comedy was penned by Jack Stanley, the scribe behind last year’s riveting thriller The Passenger.

Minghella made his feature...

Busan International Film Festival has revealed the full line-up for its 29th edition, which will open with the world premiere of Netflix period drama Uprising, produced and co-written by Park Chan-wook, and close with Eric Khoo’s Spirit World, starring Catherine Deneuve.

At a press conference in Seoul today (September 3), it was also announced that Japanese auteur Kiyoshi Kurosawa will receive the Asian Filmmaker of the Year award, while organisers addressed ongoing funding challenges facing the festival.

Uprising marks the first time a streaming title has been set as the opening feature of Asia’s largest film festival. The South...

Fremantle’s The Apartment will partner with The Match Factory, Mubi, Kavac Film and Rai Cinema to produce Karim Aïnouz’s next feature film “Rosebushpruning.”

Directed by Aïnouz, the film’s lead cast includes Kristen Stewart (“Love Lies Bleeding,” “Spencer”), Josh O’Connor (“Challengers,” “God’s Own Country”) and Elle Fanning (“Teen Spirit,” “The Great”). Aïnouz is directing from a script written by Efthimis Filippou (Kinds of Kindness, Dogtooth, The Lobster), which is an adaptation from Marco Bellocchio’s debut feature Fists in the Pocket.

Viola Fügen and Michael Weber are producing “Rosebushpruning” for The Match Factory, who are also handling worldwide sales for the film. The adaptation rights have been acquired from Kavac Film also attached at the production team with Simone Gattoni. The Apartment, a Fremantle Company, is co-producing, with Annamaria Morelli as executive producer. Rachel Dargavel for Crybaby Films is co-producing in the UK. Mubi is financing production alongside...

When Andrew Karpen wants to convince a filmmaker to let him release their movie, he doesn’t blow them away by offering more and more money. For one thing, Bleecker Street, the indie studio he founded in 2014, doesn’t have the financial firepower of an Apple or a Netflix.

“Our pitch is always centered around the kind of experience that they will have with us, knowing that we will be collaborative and transparent,” Karpen says. “I always say, ‘This is not a campaign where you will just be emailed the final poster and trailer and given two tickets to the premiere.’”

And over nearly 70 films, that openness has kept Karpen and his small but mighty staff in the game. While Bleecker is celebrating its 10th anniversary, many of its competitors haven’t managed to survive in a business that’s only become more treacherous to navigate. Several of Bleecker’s contemporaries,...

Nine months ago, it was announced that Elisabeth Moss (The Invisible Man), Kate Hudson (Almost Famous), and Kaia Gerber (Babylon) had signed on to star in the “sexy psychological thriller” Shell, with Teen Spirit‘s Max Minghella directing from a screenplay written by Jack Stanley (Lou). Now production on Shell has just wrapped in Los Angeles, and along with the end of filming comes to the reveal that Moss, Hudson, and Gerber are joined in the cast by Arian Moayed (Succession), musician and composer Este Haim (Licorice Pizza), Lionel Boyce (The Bear), author/comedian Ziwe (Ziwe), Amy Landecker (Transparent), Peter MacNicol (Ally McBeal), Blake Lee (Cruel Summer), Dustin Milligan (Schitt’s Creek), Peri Gilpin (Frasier), and Mary Lynn Rajskub (24).

Shell is “set in a near future, when humanity’s cultural obsession with youth and beauty has been taken to new extremes“. Here’s the synopsis: Struggling actress Samantha (Elisabeth Moss...

Fandoms everywhere can now rejoice, for in October Our Flag Means Death finally returns to our screens for its second season. Rhys Darby and Taika Waititi will be romancing the high seas once more thanks to an enormous outpouring of love and support from the show’s fans. The safety of the cult favorite is not yet known beyond season two, but if this one is as good as the first, it certainly won’t be for lack of trying.

Talking of little shows that could, Doom Patrol is back for its last ever block of episodes, having long outlasted the many of the other ill-fated DC streaming series. Season two of The Gilded Age is also streaming this month, with Bertha challenging both Mrs. Astor and the old system in this new run.

And if none of that is up your street, there’s always Jason Statham punching sharks in the face,...

Rhys Darby in ‘Our Flag Means Death’ season 2 (Photograph by Nicola Dove/Max)

Max’s 2023 October lineup of series includes new seasons of Our Flag Means Death, The Gilded Age, and 30 Coins, as well as the second half of Doom Patrol season four (the final season). A documentary focusing on the notorious Bling Ring premieres on October 1st, along with all five Final Destination films.

In addition to a batch of horror films joining the network’s lineup, Max is celebrating Halloween with new seasons of Ghost Adventures and The Haunted Museum.

Series & Films Arriving On Max In October 2023:

October 1

3 Godfathers (1948)

The Adventures of Pinocchio (1996)

All About the Benjamins (2002)

The Amazing Panda Adventure (1995)

Angels in the Outfield (1951)

The Answer Man (2009)

Anthropoid (2016)

Appaloosa (2008)

The Apparition (2012)

The Asphalt Jungle (1950)

Badlands (1973)

Be Cool (2005)

Bee Season (2005)

Beetlejuice (1988)

The Benchwarmers (2006)

Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

Blindspotting (2018)

Celeste and Jesse Forever (2012)

Cesar Chavez (2014)

Charlie Wilson’s War...

Bleecker Street has picked up the U.S. rights to the sci-fi thriller I.S.S., directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite and starring Ariana DeBose and John Gallagher Jr.

The space pic, written by Nick Shafir and produced by Ld Entertainment, marks Bleecker Street’s second collaboration with Cowperthwaite after the 2017 biographical drama Megan Leavey. Bleecker Street, which plans a nationwide theatrical release for I.S.S., also previously teamed with Ld on Sean Ellis’ Anthropoid and Max Minghella’s Teen Spirit.

I.S.S. had a world premiere at the Tribeca Festival and has an ensemble cast that includes Chris Messina, Pilou Asbæk, Costa Ronin and Masha Mashkova. I.S.S. follows six astronauts — three American, three Russian — aboard the International Space Station as they conduct scientific research. That’s until, back on Earth, war apparently breaks out between the U.S. and Russia.

Those international tensions have the rival...

Distributor plans nationwide theatrical release.

Bleecker Street has acquired US rights to Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s Tribeca sci-fi thriller I.S.S. starring West Side Story Oscar winner Ariana DeBose.

Ld Entertainment produced the story about an American and Russian team aboard the International Space Station whose astronauts are ordered to take control of the craft at any cost after geopolitical tensions erupt on Earth.

Bleecker plans a nationwide theatrical release on an unspecified date.

Nick Shafir wrote the screenplay and the cast includes Chris Messina, Pilou Asbæk, John Gallagher Jr, Costa Ronin, and Masha Mashkova.

Ld Entertainment’s Mickey Liddell...

After world premiering to critical acclaim at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival, Ld Entertainment’s sci-fi thriller I.S.S. starring West Side Story Oscar winner Ariana DeBose has been picked up for U.S. release by Bleecker Street. The film directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite from Nick Shafir’s script will hit theaters nationwide at a date that has not been disclosed.

I.S.S. marks Bleecker’s second collaboration with Cowperthwaite following 2017’s Megan Leavey, and its fourth with Ld, which in addition to that true-life military drama, produced their films Anthropoid and Teen Spirit from Sean Ellis and Max Minghella, respectively. The film follows two crews of scientists — one group American, the other Russian — aboard the International Space Station, as they conduct research towards the betterment of humanity. Soon, however, international tensions on Earth escalate in unpredictable ways and the teams are commanded to take control...

Tl;Dr:

Tori Amos decided to put her own spin on Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” She said fans told her to sing the song after Kurt Cobain died. She discussed what it was like to have fans sing “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”

Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” quickly became part of the classic rock canon. Following Kurt Cobain’s death, Tori Amos performed a live cover of the song in Ireland to help fans grieve. During an interview, Amos explained why she was willing to play “Smells Like Teen Spirit” soon after Cobain died.

Irish fans had Tori Amos play Nirvana’s ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ after Kurt Cobain’s death

During a 2021 interview with Stereogum, Amos said she initially covered “Smells Like Teen Spirit” because she wanted to make it sound more vulnerable. “A couple of years later in 1994, when I was in Berlin on tour,...

The Match Factory and Mubi team on the adaptation of Marco Bellocchio’s ‘Fists in the Pocket’.

Kristen Stewart, Josh O’Connor and Elle Fanning are to lead Rosebushpruning, a dark satire from Firebrand director Karim Aïnouz, backed by The Match Factory and Mubi.

The upcoming feature is set to begin shooting in spring 2024 and is an adaptation of Marco Bellocchio’s 1965 psychological drama Fists In The Pocket, with adaptation rights acquired from Italy’s Kavac Film.

It is scripted by Efthimis Filippou, who co-wrote Dogtooth, The Killing Of A Sacred Deer and The Lobster with director Yorgos Lanthimos, securing an...

The 2023 Cannes Film Festival may be slowly winding down, but a red hot new project has just landed in the market to spice things up.

Kristen Stewart (Spencer), Josh O’Connor (The Crown, God’s Own Country) and Elle Fanning (Teen Spirit, The Great) are set to lead the cast of Rosebushpruning, the next feature from Karim Aïnouz, whose Jude Law- and Alicia Vikander-starring period drama Firebrand last week had its world premiere in Cannes’ main competition to hugely positive reviews. The Match Factory and Mubi are backing the film.

The Hollywood Reporter understands that Aïnouz will direct from a script written by Efthimis Filippou (Dogtooth, Killing of Sacred Deer, The Lobster) and adapted from Marco Bellocchio’s 1965 debut feature Fists in the Pocket, a dark satire of family and social values now considered a landmark piece of Italian cinema. The adaptation rights were acquired from Kavac Film.

The Match...

Exclusive: Elle Fanning (The Great) is set to star alongside Timothée Chalamet and Monica Barbaro in A Complete Unknown, the Bob Dylan biopic that two-time Oscar nominee James Mangold is directing for Searchlight Pictures.

The film heading into production in New York this summer watches as a young Dylan (Chalamet) shakes up the music world in 1965, as he pivots to performing with an electric guitar for the first time. Fanning will play the role of Dylan’s early ’60s love interest, university student and artist Sylvie Russo.

Jay Cocks (Gangs of New York) wrote the script, with Mangold handling revisions. Dylan’s longtime manager Jeff Rosen will produce alongside Veritas Entertainment Group’s Bob Bookman, Alan Gasmer and Peter Jaysen, Automatik’s Fred Berger, The Picture Company’s Alex Heineman, and Mangold. Exec producers include Dylan, as well as Automatik’s Brian Kavanaugh-Jones and Andrew Rona.

Recognized thus far in...

Elisabeth Moss, Kate Hudson and Kaia Gerber have been tapped to star in the sexy, psychological thriller “Shell”.

The film, directed by Max Minghella, is “set in a near future when humanity’s cultural obsession with youth and beauty has been taken to new extremes,” as per the official logline.

Black Bear International will be introducing the project to international buyers in Cannes and will distribute directly in the U.K. and Ireland.

Read More: Kate Hudson Is Wrongly Told She’s Won An Oscar In Awkward Red Carpet Moment

The synopsis for the upcoming thriller reads: “Struggling actress Samantha (Elisabeth Moss) is given an opportunity to get a free trial at Shell, a pioneering health and beauty company which promises to keep its clients looking young forever. Samantha’s life and career is transformed by the treatment, and she develops a burgeoning friendship with Shell’s CEO, the ultra-glamorous...

From director Max Minghella (Teen Spirit), Elisabeth Moss and Kate Hudson will lead the cast of Shell, an upcoming psychological thriller announced by Deadline today.

Kaia Gerber (Babylon) is also set to star in the film, which is “set in a near future when humanity’s cultural obsession with youth and beauty has been taken to new extremes.”

In Shell, struggling actress Samantha (Elisabeth Moss) is given an opportunity to get a free trial at Shell, a pioneering health and beauty company which promises to keep its clients looking young forever. Samantha’s life and career is transformed by the treatment, and she develops a burgeoning friendship with Shell’s CEO, the ultra-glamorous Zoe Shannon (Kate Hudson).

“When a string of former Shell patients go missing under mysterious circumstances, including popular social media star Chloe Benson (Kaia Gerber), Samantha starts to fear she may be in danger herself.”

Jack Stanley (Lou) wrote the screenplay.

Elisabeth Moss will star alongside Kate Hudson and Kaia Gerber in the psychological thriller “Shell” from director Max Minghella.

Black Bear International will introduce the project to international buyers at the Cannes Film Festival while also distributing the picture in the UK and Ireland. CAA Media Finance and WME Independent will handle domestic rights.

The film will be produced by Automatik’s Fred Berger and Brian Kavanugh Jones alongside Minghella for Blank Tape, Elisabeth Moss and Lindsey McManus for Love & Squalor Pictures and Alicia Van Couvering. It is penned by Jack Stanley who recently wrote the Allison Janney-led actioner “Lou.” Jamie Bell will executive produce. The deal was negotiated on behalf of Black Bear International by Jill Silfen.

Minghella said: “Shell” packs a wildly entertaining genre movie with iconic characters and universal themes that are bound to have people talking long after they leave the theater. I’m...

As the lead-up to the 76th edition of the Cannes Film Festival gets underway, so too does the film market at the festival. And Black Bear International will have a very enticing project for sale on the Croisette: “Shell,” a thriller starring Elisabeth Moss, Kate Hudson, and Kaia Gerber.

Read More: Cannes 2023: Robert Rodriguez’s ‘Hypnotic’ Joins New Films From Catherine Corsini & More In Lineup

“Teen Spirit‘ director and actor Max Minghella will direct the film, a thriller set in the near future as humanity’s cultural obsession with youth and beauty reaches disturbing new extremes.

Continue reading ‘Shell’: Elisabeth Moss, Kate Hudson & Kaia Gerber To Star In Upcoming Thriller at The Playlist.

Elisabeth Moss (The Invisible Man), Kate Hudson (Almost Famous), and Kaia Gerber (Babylon) have signed on to star in the “sexy psychological thriller” Shell, which is set to be directed by Teen Spirit‘s Max Minghella from a screenplay written by Jack Stanley (Lou). Black Bear International will be presenting the project to potential international distributors at the Cannes Film Festival, and will be handling distribution themselves in the UK and Ireland. CAA Media Finance and WME Independent co-represent the domestic rights.

Shell is “set in a near future, when humanity’s cultural obsession with youth and beauty has been taken to new extremes“. Here’s the synopsis: Struggling actress Samantha (Elisabeth Moss) is given an opportunity to get a free trial at Shell, a pioneering health and beauty company which promises to keep its clients looking young forever. Samantha’s life and career is transformed by the treatment, and...

Exclusive: Emmy-winner Elisabeth Moss (The Handmaid’s Tale) will star alongside Oscar-nominee Kate Hudson (Glass Onion) and actress and model Kaia Gerber (Babylon) in psychological thriller Shell from director Max Minghella (Teen Spirit).

The film, which will reunite The Handmaid’s Tale co-stars Moss and Minghella, is set in a near future when humanity’s cultural obsession with youth and beauty has been taken to new extremes.

Black Bear International will be introducing the project to international buyers in Cannes and distributing directly in the UK and Ireland. CAA Media Finance and WME Independent are co-repping domestic rights.

Pic is being produced by Automatik’s Fred Berger (La La Land) and Brian Kavanaugh Jones (Insidious), alongside Minghella for Blank Tape (Teen Spirit), Elisabeth Moss and Lindsey McManus for Love & Squalor Pictures (Shining Girls) and Alicia Van Couvering (Cop Car), from a script penned by Jack Stanley (Lou). Jamie Bell will be executive producer.

Elle Fanning and Max Minghella have split.

Fanning confirmed the recent breakup in a new interview with Harper’s Bazaar U.K.

The pair are thought to have started dating after meeting on the set of their 2018 movie “Teen Spirit”. They kept their relationship fairly private over the years.

Despite calling it quits with Minghella, Fanning hopes to fall in love again someday.

Read More: Elle Fanning Shares First Look At ‘The Great’ Season 3, Premiere Date Revealed

She told the magazine, “But I’m a hopeless romantic. I believe in love at first sight.

“Call me crazy, but I believe in those things. I feel that it’s my destiny.”

Speaking about where she sees herself in 10 years time, Fanning said, “I’d love to play Grace Kelly in something. And to have kids.”

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A post shared by Harper's Bazaar UK (@bazaaruk)

Fanning was asked...

Prime Video’s The Power, based on Naomi Alderman’s book of the same name, is set in a world where teen girls all over the world suddenly develop the ability to harness electricity through their fingertips. It’s later discovered that these young girls can also awaken the ability in adult women as well, forever changing power structures as many women fight against the patriarchal norms of society. As with the novel, we get to see how different women choose to use their newfound powers and how this event changes their lives, for better or worse.

With a cast full of familiar faces and talented newcomers, here are the actors bringing these complex characters to life in The Power.

Toni Collette is Margot Cleary-Lopez

Margot Cleary-Lopez is the progressive Mayor of Seattle and the mother of Jos, Izzy, and Matty. She is supportive when Jos’ powers are revealed and...

Exclusive: Jorge Vargas (‘Snowpiercer’), Tanaya Beatty (‘Yellowstone,’), and Skywalker Hughes (‘Joe Pickett’) are rounding out the previously announced cast of Academy Award winner Andrew Stanton’s In The Blink of an Eye starring Kate McKinnon, Rashida Jones, and Daveed Diggs. Principal photography has now commenced in British Columbia.

The movie follows three storylines, spanning thousands of years, intersect and reflect on hope, connection and the circle of life. Jared Ian Goldman (Ingrid Goes West, ‘Russian Doll’) produces the pic written and executive produced by Colby Day (Spaceman).

“From the first read I knew Colby Day’s script was special,” said Stanton, “and it has only become more rarified of a project as our team has formed. What a privilege to have such an ideal cast and crew realize this beautiful story.”

“Andrew is a visionary artist whose unique gifts as a storyteller shine in this beautiful film,” added Searchlight Presidents Matthew Greenfield and David Greenbaum.

Film festivals tend to have at least one trend. Cannes 2021 was the year of ... well, cunnilingus, while TIFF 2018 was the year of movies about troubled musicians. In 2023, South by Southwest was the year of the brand movie or product biopic (the prodpic?). Finally, Hollywood has realized that people are tired of the same old biopics that distill someone's entire life into a truncated narrative full of cliches and tropes, reducing moments of genuine innovation into contrived deus ex machinas.

Besides, who cares about people anyway? Not Hollywood, apparently, because they have finally recognized that audience's huge interest in recognizable IP and nostalgia means they don't care about people or characters, they care about products. And so, this year's SXSW saw movie writers and producers realize that they could just cut the middlemen and deliver what the people want right to them — movies about products!

That's right. This was the year...

Spring is here, which means so is the first wave of great indie movies that made their debut at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. Among them is "Rye Lane," a South London-set rom-com about two people who bond about bad breakups during a walk around the city they call home. /Film's Ben Pearson reviewed "Rye Lane" at Sundance, calling it "a love letter to the beauty and diversity of South London" and "a highly satisfying walk-and-talk romance." Now, "Rye Lane" has a charming new trailer and is set for a release date exclusively on Hulu.

The film follows a woman named Yas ("Class" and "Teen Spirit" actor Vivian Oparah) who meets a guy called Dom ("Industry" star David Jonsson) at a museum when she finds him sobbing in the bathroom. Dom has recently been through a bad breakup -- his girlfriend cheated on him with his best friend...

Most people would agree that Nirvana’s music embodies the spirit of Generation X, yet they never managed to write a song worthy of becoming number one. In fact, they never even breached the top five. However, one song, “Smells Like Teen Spirit” managed to get close and went on to become the anthem of the grunge era.

‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ by Nirvana landed the number six spot on music charts Kurt Cobain of Nirvana in New York City I Kevin Mazur/WireImage

Nirvana’s biggest hit, “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100 list in 1992 and remained on the chart for 20 weeks. Despite never breaking into the top five, the track is now considered one of the greatest songs of all time. It has since made it to the top of many prominent ranking lists, including the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...

Overexposure hurts any work of art and classic rock songs are no different. Some classic rock songs would sound better if they were played less. For example, one of The Beatles’ most popular songs is passable but overplay made it annoying.

Freddie Mercury | Steve Jennings / Contributor 5. The Beatles’ ‘Here Comes the Sun’

The Beatles’ “Here Comes the Sun” is not one of The Beatles’ best songs. I’m not sure it’s a C-tier song for them. It’s a cross between a meditation on nature and a self-empowerment anthem, which is fine in theory. In execution, it’s just dull.

According to a 2021 Forbes article, it’s The Beatles’ most popular song on streaming. Ringo Starr approves. “I didn’t know it was No. 1 No. 1, but it well deserves it,” he opined. “It’s a beautiful song, it’s a beautiful arrangement, the drums are great (laughs). I don’t know,...

Exclusive: Black Bear International has launched international sales on Fred & Ginger, the musical about the passionate and explosive relationship between Hollywood dance legends, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.

The project was formerly set up at Amazon but is hitting the open market with Black Bear and financier 30West (The Triangle Of Sadness) now aboard. UTA Independent Film Group and 30West will co-rep U.S. rights.

As was previously known, BAFTA-winner Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot) will play Astaire, the technically-driven perfectionist, opposite Margaret Qualley (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) as the naturally gifted Rogers. The film is aiming to start production later this year.

Jonathan Entwistle (The End of the F*cking World) will direct from a script by writer Arash Amel (The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare).

Hollywood icons Astaire and Rogers starred in ten movies together, starting with Flying Down to Rio in 1933 and ending with The Barkleys of Broadway...

Cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw was one of the most sought-after names at the recent Camerimage film festival, with both fans and industry colleagues flocking to hear her speak at a post-screening Q&a.

The Bay Area native is currently enjoying a career boom after first drawing attention with deft work on indie pics like Gia Coppola’s Palo Alto and the Elle Fanning-starrer Teen Spirit before she was drafted into the MCU, lensing the breakout series Loki and now, Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther sequel Wakanda Forever.

Arkapaw’s ascension has been swift, but she told Deadline that her process has largely remained the same.

“I still approach it as a small movie,” she said. “The management, time, and money are all a side note because you want it to be good every time you do something regardless of the size. There are also many amazing people working on the film,...

Click here to read the full article.

Archie Madekwe, who appears with Jason Momoa in the dystopian Apple TV+ series See, will star opposite David Harbour in Gran Turismo, the Sony Pictures and PlayStation Productions feature adaptation of the best-selling racing video game.

The move is potentially career-changing as it gives the rising actor a top spot in a sizable studio movie that is a big IP play and a hoped-for franchise. Madekwe will literally be in the driver’s seat for the feature.

Neill Blomkamp, best known for his sci-fi movies such as District 9 and Elysium, is directing the film, which is based on a true story. The project is described as the ultimate wish-fulfillment tale of a teenage Gran Turismo player whose gaming skills won him a series of Nissan competitions to become an actual professional racecar driver.

Madekwe will topline as the teen. Harbour is playing...

Richard E. Grant (Can You Ever Forgive Me?), Archie Madekwe (See) and Alison Oliver (Conversations with Friends) are the newest additions to the cast of Prime Video’s upcoming feature Saltburn, written and directed by Academy Award winner Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman). The trio joins an ensemble, which also includes Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi and Rosamund Pike, as previously announced.

The film hailing from MRC Film and Amazon Studios, which is currently in production in the UK, is billed as a story of obsession, though more specific plot details are being kept under wraps. Fennell is producing alongside LuckyChap Entertainment’s Josey McNamara, Tom Ackerley and Margot Robbie. Prime Video holds worldwide streaming rights to the film, and will release it in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide, with Amazon Studios and MGM set to release it in theaters.

“From the second we read Saltburn, we were completely hooked.

The cast for Academy Award-winner Emerald Fennell’s upcoming film “Saltburn” is shaping up with the addition of Oscar nominee Richard E. Grant, Archie Madekwe and Alison Oliver. The trio join previously announced stars Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi and Rosamund Pike in the MRC Film and Amazon Studios project.

Following her best picture-nominated feature directorial debut “Promising Young Woman,” Fennell wrote and is directing “Saltburn,” which is described as a “story of obsession” with other plot details kept under wraps. Production is currently underway in the U.K.

Variety exclusively announced plans for the film in January, noting that Fennell would also produce the project alongside LuckyChap Entertainment’s Josey McNamara, Tom Ackerley and Margot Robbie. Prime Video landed worldwide streaming rights to “Saltburn,” which will also be released in theaters by Amazon Studios and MGM, and then stream on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.

“From the second we read ‘Saltburn,...

In episode four of "The Girl From Plainville," Michelle Carter (Elle Fanning) is reeling from news that she's been indicted on charges of involuntary manslaughter in the death of her boyfriend Conrad Roy (Colton Ryan). She walks the neighborhood, listening to the "Glee" cast album in her headphones, when she imagines that Conrad is there, dressed in a varsity jacket just like Finn on "Glee." Suddenly, her clothes change into a very Rachel Berry-like outfit. They turn the song, "I Can't Fight This Feeling," into a duet, singing and dancing together in the middle of the street. When the song ends, Conrad disappears and Michelle snaps back to reality.

Related: The True Story Behind Hulu's "The Girl From Plainville"

Of episode four's musical moment, showrunner Liz Hannah told EW, "I think the genesis of that came from really wanting to find a way to express 'Glee' in the...

Among the 21 Emmy nominations Hulu’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” racked up this year is the career-first citation for one of its series regulars, Max Minghella, who plays Nick Blaine on the show. “To see so much of the ‘Handmaid’s’ family recognized, but specifically the crew, was really meaningful because this year was so arduous and difficult,” Minghella says euphorically about his individual and the show’s recognition. In our exclusive video interview (watch above), Minghella discusses his character’s progression throughout the series, his Emmy episode submission, and his collaboration with leading lady and director Elisabeth Moss.

The series is based on Margaret Atwood‘s 1985 novel of the same name, which is set in a dystopian near-future America, where women are enslaved as ‘handmaids’ due to plummeting birth-rates and forced to bear children for the ruling class in the new authoritarian Gilead theocracy. A now 75-time Emmy nominee and 15-time winner,...

Exclusive: Working Title has optioned rights to best-selling author Ruth Ware’s haunted house thriller The Turn of the Key.

Max Minghella (The Handmaid’s Tale) and Jamie Bell (Rocketman) have signed on to write the screen adaptation of Ware’s successful fifth novel, which tells the story of a young woman who stumbles across an ad to take on a position as a live-in nanny at a high-tech ‘smart’ house in the Scottish Highlands.

In spite of the extremely generous salary, a beautiful location, an incredible home and the seemingly picture-perfect family, it soon becomes clear that all is not what it seems.

The project, which marks Bell’s screenwriting debut, will be produced by Working Title’s Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner. Amelia Granger, Head of Film and TV, and Alexandra Loewy, President of Film US, will oversee development on the project on behalf of Working Title.

In a competitive pitch process,...

Exclusive: Following his scene-stealing role in The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, Ruairi O’Connor has signed with ICM Partners for representation in all areas. The film has performed well at the global box office, grossing over $160M+ worldwide since its release a month ago, if with its day-and-date bow on HBO Max. It is the third film in the James Wan produced Conjuring series – and the eighth overall.

He recently wrapped filming Season 2 of Apple’s The Morning Show as a series regular alongside Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, and Steve Carell, and he can also be seen in The Spanish Princess for Starz and in Max Minghella’s Teen Spirit opposite Elle Fanning. .

Television credits include Netflix series Can’t Cope, Won’t Cope, BBC’S My Mother and Other Strangers, and he can be seen in series one and two of Delicious for Sky alongside Dawn French,...

Damien Chazelle’s 1920s Hollywood-set movie Babylon has rounded out a bulk of what is expected to be its final casting. Of those set to head back in time are Max Minghella, Flea, Samara Weaving, Rory Scovel, Lukas Haas, Eric Roberts, P.J. Byrne and Damon Gupton.

All of them join the previously announced cast of Margot Robbie, Brad Pitt, Diego Calva, Jovan Adepo, Li Jun Li and as we first told you today, Katherine Waterston.

All parts and storylines for the next movie from the Oscar-winning La La Land director are under wraps. As we told you, the Paramount movie is R-rated and set in the shifting moment in Hollywood when the motion picture industry turned from silent film to talkies.

Chazelle in addition to directing, wrote the script. Babylon hits theaters on Christmas Day 2022 in a limited release with a wide break on Jan. 6, 2023.

Olivia Hamilton, Matt Plouffe, and Marc Platt are producing.

Max Minghella never expected to be an actor.

The son of “The English Patient” director Anthony Minghella and dancer-choreographer Carolyn Jane Choa, Minghella says, “I one-thousand-percent anticipated working in movies, but acting was probably the last thing I thought I’d end up doing.” That all changed when he was 16 and caught a production of Kenneth Lonergan’s “This Is Our Youth” and, he says, “sort of got obsessed with the idea of saying those words.”

That obsession has resulted in a very busy dance card. This month, Minghella is co-starring in “Spiral” — a new chapter in the “Saw” franchise — and appearing in the fourth season of the Emmy-winning Hulu series “The Handmaid’s Tale.”

Minghella is also busy behind the camera: His feature film debut as writer-director, 2018’s “Teen Spirit,” was well-received, and he’s attached to direct the HBO Max movie “Shell,” which he calls “a completely bonkers script” by Jack Stanley.

Exclusive: Amazon Studios and Automatik have set Jamie Bell and Margaret Qualley to star in Fred & Ginger, a new feature film profiling the iconic dancing pair Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Jonathan Entwistle will direct the biopic based off a script by Arash Amel.

Fred & Ginger goes behind the beloved stage personas of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, examining what individually drove them while celebrating the creative magic between them. The biopic will tell the untold, real love story between the two legends both on and off the screen.

Fred Berger and Brian Kavanaugh-Jones of Automatik will produce, with Bell, Qualley and Amel also producing. Max Minghella will executive produce under his and Bell’s Blank Tape banner, reuniting them with Automatik, their partners on Teen Spirit. Gemma Levinson will be overseeing for Automatik.

Both Bell and Qualley, with deep roots in dance, won’t be strangers to the rigorous choreography.

Rlje Films, a business unit of AMC Networks, will release the thriller The Owners on October 20, 2020 on DVD and Blu-ray. Check out the trailer:

Now you can win the Win the DVD of The Owners. We Are Movie Geeks has two to give away. Just leave a comment below telling us what your favorite horror movie is starting with the letter ‘O’. (mine’s Overlord It’s so easy!)

1. You Must Be A US Resident. Prize Will Only Be Shipped To US Addresses. No P.O. Boxes. No Duplicate Addresses.

2. Winner Will Be Chosen From All Qualifying Entries.

The Owners stars Maisie Williams (“Game of Thrones,” The New Mutants), Sylvester McCoy , Jake Curran (“Spotless”, Stardust), Ian Kenny (Solo: A Star Wars Story, Sing Street), Andrew Ellis (Teen Spirit, “This Is England”),and RitaTushingham (“The Pale Horse,” Vera). The film is directed by Julius Berg (“TheForest,” “Mata Hari”) who co-wrote the...

“Driving Miss Daisy” director Bruce Beresford is directing a biopic on the life of Buddy Holly called “Clear Lake,” and the independent film has cast Ruairi O’Connor, best known for his role in the Starz miniseries “The Spanish Princess,” to star as the rock ‘n’ roll icon.

“Clear Lake” tells the story of how Buddy Holly and other famous musicians of the late 1950s gave birth to rock ‘n’ roll while changing the trajectory of civil rights in America, all leading up to “The Day The Music Died,” when Holly died in a plane crash outside Clear Lake, Iowa on February 3, 1959, along with Ritchie Valens, J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson and pilot Roger Peterson.

Rick French (“Not Without Hope”) is producing for Prix Productions along with Stuart Benjamin of Stuart Benjamin Productions.

The filmmakers on “Clear Lake” spent six months searching for its Buddy Holly, someone who both resembled...

Irish actor Ruairi O’Connor will play rock ‘n’ roll icon Buddy Holly in the biopic “Clear Lake” with a tentative production start date set for the spring.

O’Connor, who stars as a young King Henry VIII in the Starz miniseries “The Spanish Princess,” was selected following a six-month search by the producers and casting directors at Presser/Well Casting to find the right actor who both resembled Holly and could handle vocals and instrumentation on classic songs such as “Everyday,” “That’ll Be the Day” and “Not Fade Away.”

The BMG-backed “Clear Lake” will helmed by Bruce Beresford, who received Oscar nominations for the “Breaker Morant” script and for directing “Tender Mercies.” He also directed “Driving Miss Daisy,” which won the Academy Award for best picture. Producers are Rick French (“Not Without Hope”) of Prix Productions and Stuart Benjamin of Stuart Benjamin Productions.

“Clear Lake” tells the story of...

A group of criminals get more than they bargained for when they choose the wrong house to rob in the new home invasion movie The Owners (starring Maisie Williams), and following its theatrical, VOD, and Digital release in September, Rlje Films will bring The Owners to Blu-ray and DVD on October 20th, just in time for Halloween.

From the Press Release: Los Angeles – Rlje Films, a business unit of AMC Networks, will release the thriller The Owners on October 20, 2020 on DVD and Blu-ray.

The Owners stars Maisie Williams (“Game of Thrones,” The New Mutants), Sylvester McCoy , Jake Curran (“Spotless”, Stardust), Ian Kenny (Solo: A Star Wars Story, Sing Street), Andrew Ellis (Teen Spirit, "This Is England"),and RitaTushingham ("The Pale Horse," Vera). The film is directed by Julius Berg (“TheForest,” “Mata Hari”) who co-wrote the film with Matthieu Gompel (The Dream Kids). Rlje Films will release The Owners on DVD...