How often do you see a film that doesn’t put a foot wrong? I’m talking about Richard Linklater’s Hit Man here, which is, by far, the most exciting film that I’ve seen in recent times. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that there’s not a single dull second in this dark comedy, which is co-produced and co-written by Glenn Powell, who also aces the title role. Even though it seems like the part is tailor-made for a certain Ryan Gosling, Powell makes it his own and hits it out of the park. What further helps is his stunning chemistry with Adria Arjona, who plays Madison. While the story, which is loosely based on the life of fake hitman Gary Johnson, is not particularly hard to follow, Linklater puts a philosophical spin on it, which only enhances the whole thing. The director’s signature style of deftly written,...
- 6/8/2024
- by Rohitavra Majumdar
- Film Fugitives
It’s generally understood that science fiction stories say more about the moment in which they were written than the future that they dare to imagine. That’s why it doesn’t matter that we’re long past the original setting of futuristic classics like Blade Runner or even Back to the Future Part II, as these stories remain fascinating precisely because of their dated perspectives on the future.
Of course, that’s not to say that there aren’t a handful of technological prophets out there who can tap into universal fears and anxieties that continue to be relevant no matter how far our species marches into the future. A great example of this is Philip K. Dick’s 1977 novel A Scanner Darkly, a timeless autobiographical parable about paranoia and America’s war on drugs disguised as a sci-fi novel.
And while the book may not have been one...
Of course, that’s not to say that there aren’t a handful of technological prophets out there who can tap into universal fears and anxieties that continue to be relevant no matter how far our species marches into the future. A great example of this is Philip K. Dick’s 1977 novel A Scanner Darkly, a timeless autobiographical parable about paranoia and America’s war on drugs disguised as a sci-fi novel.
And while the book may not have been one...
- 5/21/2024
- by Luiz H. C.
- bloody-disgusting.com
Once upon a time, I believed any completed movie that found release was a minor miracle. After enduring Harmony Korine’s infrared-only Aggro Dr1ft (written in “leetspeak”), the first production under the filmmaker’s new boundary-pushing “multimedia design collective” Edglrd, that mantra is shattered. This movie is theatrical imprisonment. Its duration? A life sentence. Aggro Dr1ft is an 80-minute music video masquerading as a provocative and startlingly stylized action flick that’s devoid of any provocation, groundbreaking style, or on-screen action.
Aggro Dr1ft follows a downtrodden Miami-based mercenary, Bo (Jordi Mollà), who wishes to vanquish a demonic crimelord and become a stay-at-home family man. It’s a crayon-box blur of fuchsia skies and lavender skin tones, paintball-masked mini militias mean-mugging on yachts with hot tubs, mumbled dialogue lost underneath Edm tracks, and robotic performances so unintelligible you’d think you’re being pranked. Travis Scott randomly appears as a next-generation assassin,...
Aggro Dr1ft follows a downtrodden Miami-based mercenary, Bo (Jordi Mollà), who wishes to vanquish a demonic crimelord and become a stay-at-home family man. It’s a crayon-box blur of fuchsia skies and lavender skin tones, paintball-masked mini militias mean-mugging on yachts with hot tubs, mumbled dialogue lost underneath Edm tracks, and robotic performances so unintelligible you’d think you’re being pranked. Travis Scott randomly appears as a next-generation assassin,...
- 5/15/2024
- by Matt Donato
- DailyDead
Tubi, Fox’s free streaming service, has announced its list of April titles. The April 2024 slate features new Tubi Originals as well as numerous action, Black cinema, comedy, documentary, drama, horror, kids and family, romance, sci-fi and fantasy, thriller, and Western titles.
As a leading ad-supported video-on-demand service, Tubi engages diverse audiences through a personalized experience and the world’s largest content library, which includes over 200,000 movies and TV episodes, a growing collection of Tubi Originals, and nearly 250 Fast channels.
You can watch the Tubi April 2024 lineup for free on Android and iOS mobile devices, Amazon Echo Show, Google Nest Hub Max, Comcast Xfinity X1, and Cox Contour.
You can also watch the service on connected television devices such as Amazon Fire TV, Vizio TVs, Sony TVs, Samsung TVs, Roku, Apple TV, Chromecast, Android TV, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and on the web at Tubi.tv.
Tubi Originals
Documentary
Behind...
As a leading ad-supported video-on-demand service, Tubi engages diverse audiences through a personalized experience and the world’s largest content library, which includes over 200,000 movies and TV episodes, a growing collection of Tubi Originals, and nearly 250 Fast channels.
You can watch the Tubi April 2024 lineup for free on Android and iOS mobile devices, Amazon Echo Show, Google Nest Hub Max, Comcast Xfinity X1, and Cox Contour.
You can also watch the service on connected television devices such as Amazon Fire TV, Vizio TVs, Sony TVs, Samsung TVs, Roku, Apple TV, Chromecast, Android TV, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and on the web at Tubi.tv.
Tubi Originals
Documentary
Behind...
- 3/19/2024
- by Mirko Parlevliet
- Vital Thrills
Keanu Reeves and the Art of Silent Command in A Scanner Darkly In the realm of science fiction, ‘A Scanner Darkly’ (2006) stands out not just for its rotoscoped animation style but also for the compelling performance of Keanu Reeves as Bob Arctor. Despite having limited dialogue, Reeves’ portrayal is a central narrative force, embodying the film’s themes of addiction and paranoia. His character, an undercover agent entangled in a drug-fueled dystopia, relies on nuanced expressions and subtle gestures to convey his internal struggle, demonstrating Reeves’ adeptness at non-verbal acting. Reeves’ character lives in a scramble suit that constantly shifts...
- 2/9/2024
- by Steve Delikson
- TVovermind.com
Jennifer Fox, the Oscar-nominated film producer (Michael Clayton), will produce the next Governors Awards ceremony for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Academy president Janet Yang announced Wednesday. It will be Fox’s fifth time overseeing the event, following the 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th editions.
The 14th Governors Awards will take place on Jan. 9 at the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Ovation Hollywood. Honorary Awards will be presented to Angela Bassett, Mel Brooks and film editor Carol Littleton, and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award to the Sundance Institute’s Michelle Satter.
“Producing the Academy’s Governors Awards for the fifth time and helping kick off another Oscar season is an absolute honor,” Fox said in a statement. “I’m looking forward to a memorable night paying tribute to this year’s exceptional honorees.”
Yang stated, “We are delighted to welcome Jennifer back as our producer for the Governors Awards.
The 14th Governors Awards will take place on Jan. 9 at the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Ovation Hollywood. Honorary Awards will be presented to Angela Bassett, Mel Brooks and film editor Carol Littleton, and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award to the Sundance Institute’s Michelle Satter.
“Producing the Academy’s Governors Awards for the fifth time and helping kick off another Oscar season is an absolute honor,” Fox said in a statement. “I’m looking forward to a memorable night paying tribute to this year’s exceptional honorees.”
Yang stated, “We are delighted to welcome Jennifer back as our producer for the Governors Awards.
- 12/13/2023
- by Scott Feinberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
“One more time: animation is a medium, not a genre. Animation is film,” Guillermo del Toro said last year. IndieWire couldn’t agree more, and yet animation — an art form that requires the most precise control of the cinematic medium — is continually disrespected.
Infamously, 2022’s Best Animated Oscars presentation featured several jokes about the nominees that, in the words of Phil Lord and Chris Miller, framed “the five Academy Award nominees for Best Animated Feature as a corporate product for kids that parents must begrudgingly endure.” The directing duo called upon the Academy to do better by animation. And this year’s ceremony largely delivered, with less jokes that belittled animation as kiddy stuff and a sterling speech from del Toro himself for his acclaimed stop-motion feature adaptation of “Pinocchio.”
Pixar and Studio Ghibli tend to spring to mind first when discussing great animation, but there’s a world beyond those two giants.
Infamously, 2022’s Best Animated Oscars presentation featured several jokes about the nominees that, in the words of Phil Lord and Chris Miller, framed “the five Academy Award nominees for Best Animated Feature as a corporate product for kids that parents must begrudgingly endure.” The directing duo called upon the Academy to do better by animation. And this year’s ceremony largely delivered, with less jokes that belittled animation as kiddy stuff and a sterling speech from del Toro himself for his acclaimed stop-motion feature adaptation of “Pinocchio.”
Pixar and Studio Ghibli tend to spring to mind first when discussing great animation, but there’s a world beyond those two giants.
- 11/23/2023
- by Bill Desowitz and Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
Robert Downey Jr. will receive the Maltin Modern Master Award at the 39th annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival on Feb. 9.
The award is named after the film historian Leonard Maltin, who will lead an in-person discussion with Downey Jr. at the festival, where they will dig into the actor’s long career, including, of course, his turn in “Oppenheimer” as Lewis Strauss, the title character’s nemesis who tries to orchestrate his downfall.
“Oppenheimer” director Christopher Nolan said in a statement, “It’s thrilling to see audiences responding not just to Robert Downey Jr’s incredible charisma, but to a performance which, stripped of any movie star trappings, shows once again that he is one of the greatest actors.”
Downey Jr. began his screen career at age five in 1970, when he played a sick puppy in his father Robert Downey Sr.’s comedy “Pound.” He broke through in the 1980s,...
The award is named after the film historian Leonard Maltin, who will lead an in-person discussion with Downey Jr. at the festival, where they will dig into the actor’s long career, including, of course, his turn in “Oppenheimer” as Lewis Strauss, the title character’s nemesis who tries to orchestrate his downfall.
“Oppenheimer” director Christopher Nolan said in a statement, “It’s thrilling to see audiences responding not just to Robert Downey Jr’s incredible charisma, but to a performance which, stripped of any movie star trappings, shows once again that he is one of the greatest actors.”
Downey Jr. began his screen career at age five in 1970, when he played a sick puppy in his father Robert Downey Sr.’s comedy “Pound.” He broke through in the 1980s,...
- 11/14/2023
- by Missy Schwartz
- The Wrap
Academy Award-winning director Alfonso Cuarón is set to helm his next project, ‘Jane’, a biographical drama about the life and relationship of science fiction writer Philip K. Dick and his twin sister Jane, who died shortly after birth. The film, which will star Charlize Theron as Jane, is based on a script by Dick’s daughter Isa Hackett, who will also produce the film along with Cuarón and Theron12
‘Jane’ is described as “a moving, suspenseful and darkly humorous story about a woman’s unique relationship with her brilliant, but troubled twin, who also happens to be the celebrated novelist Philip K. Dick. While attempting to rescue her brother from predicaments both real and imagined, Jane plunges deeper and deeper into a fascinating world of his creation.” 3
Roma Trailer
Philip K. Dick, who died in 1982 at the age of 53, was one of the most influential and prolific science fiction authors of the 20th century.
‘Jane’ is described as “a moving, suspenseful and darkly humorous story about a woman’s unique relationship with her brilliant, but troubled twin, who also happens to be the celebrated novelist Philip K. Dick. While attempting to rescue her brother from predicaments both real and imagined, Jane plunges deeper and deeper into a fascinating world of his creation.” 3
Roma Trailer
Philip K. Dick, who died in 1982 at the age of 53, was one of the most influential and prolific science fiction authors of the 20th century.
- 10/3/2023
- by CineArticles Editorial Team
- https://thecinemanews.online/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/IMG_4649
Robert Downey, Jr. has been frank and forthcoming about his prolonged struggles with substance addiction. For many years, the actor abused cocaine and heroin, all while balancing an exciting career as one of his generation's best actors. Downey opened up, as in other places, on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," talking about how the most difficult part of giving up drugs was the resolute decision to do so. Ever since, Downey has remained clean, and, thanks to the 2008 film "Iron Man" become one of the world's wealthiest and most recognizable movie stars. Also in 2008, Downey appeared in the film "Tropic Thunder" as an intensely devoted prima donna actor who surgically changed his race (!) to play a role. He was nominated for an Academy Award.
As many former addicts might tell you, their decision to get clean is often accompanied by a "low point" or a "moment of clarity." Something might happen...
As many former addicts might tell you, their decision to get clean is often accompanied by a "low point" or a "moment of clarity." Something might happen...
- 9/2/2023
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
The premise of Nancy Meyers' 2006 romance "The Holiday" is rather high concept. Iris (Kate Winslet), a reporter in England, has just broken up with her cheating boyfriend. Amanda (Cameron Diaz), a Los Angeles native and showbiz impresario, has just done the same. By chance, the two heartbroken women discover a want-ad in the newspaper wherein they would swap homes for the holidays and live in each other's respective towns. Amanda, while in England, finds some unexpected romantic company with Iris' visiting brother Graham (Jude Law). The two decide to have a fling, but end up seeing each other more and more. Iris, meanwhile, settling in L.A., finds herself drifting closer and closer toward a friend of her ex, a charming and funny dude named Miles (Jack Black). The film also features Rufus Sewell, Shannyn Sossamon, Kathryn Hahn, and John Krasinski. Lindsay Lohan makes a cameo.
The reviews weren't overwhelmingly...
The reviews weren't overwhelmingly...
- 8/5/2023
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
The big movie studios opted out of San Diego Comic-Con 2023, meaning the event didn't have all the air sucked up by the next big Marvel Cinematic Universe news for once. One of the most exciting announcements was "Lazarus," a new sci-fi thriller anime from Shinichirō Watanabe and Studio Mappa.
The announcement came with a teaser trailer; Watanabe's animes always have a musical theme and it looks like "Lazarus" will have the same jazzy score as "Bebop" (this time performed by saxophonist Kamasi Washington). Rather than a U.S. import like most anime, "Lazarus" will premiere on Toonami (the production team is aiming to be finished by the end of 2024). The American influence doesn't stop there, for the action scenes will be designed by "John Wick" director Chad Stahelski. Watanabe crafts animated action with unrivaled fluidity, so him and Stahelski working together is a dream team.
Even before this project,...
The announcement came with a teaser trailer; Watanabe's animes always have a musical theme and it looks like "Lazarus" will have the same jazzy score as "Bebop" (this time performed by saxophonist Kamasi Washington). Rather than a U.S. import like most anime, "Lazarus" will premiere on Toonami (the production team is aiming to be finished by the end of 2024). The American influence doesn't stop there, for the action scenes will be designed by "John Wick" director Chad Stahelski. Watanabe crafts animated action with unrivaled fluidity, so him and Stahelski working together is a dream team.
Even before this project,...
- 8/5/2023
- by Devin Meenan
- Slash Film
Although he had been on a minor roll by 2008, starring in Zodiac, A Scanner Darkly and, uh, The Shaggy Dog, Robert Downey Jr. was far from being a box office draw. So it was a major risk for Jon Favreau to even consider casting Robert Downey Jr. in the movie that would launch the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Iron Man. It of course paid off in huge dividends and the casting has been cited as a major reason for the MCU’s success. Now, it’s someone with ties not to Iron Man but Batman that has praised the move.
Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Christopher Nolan lauded director Jon Favreau for taking the risk of casting Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man aka Tony Stark. “I thought when [Jon] Favreau had the insight to cast him as Iron Man…It’s one of the greatest casting decisions in the history of movies.
Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Christopher Nolan lauded director Jon Favreau for taking the risk of casting Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man aka Tony Stark. “I thought when [Jon] Favreau had the insight to cast him as Iron Man…It’s one of the greatest casting decisions in the history of movies.
- 7/22/2023
- by Mathew Plale
- JoBlo.com
Tubi is offering lots of originals for July, including the thriller “Five Star Murder” on July 28. A concierge and a guest investigate a hotel murder while a storm traps nasty hidden-treasure hunters inside.
Also coming to the streamer, a podcaster investigates his sister’s death in “Deep Web: Murdershow” on July 8. The murder leads him to a site where the highest bidder determines how a victim is killed.
“The Mummy” franchise is available July 1. In the first installment, an adventurer in 1926 Egypt travels to Hamunaptra, the City of the Dead, with a librarian and her older brother. Excited by their discoveries, they accidentally awaken Imhotep, a cursed high priest who was mummified alive. Now, the all-powerful Imhotep must be destroyed before his wrath destroys everything in his path. Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz co-star in the action-packed thriller.
Finally, the cult classic “Big Trouble in Little China” stars Kurt Russell...
Also coming to the streamer, a podcaster investigates his sister’s death in “Deep Web: Murdershow” on July 8. The murder leads him to a site where the highest bidder determines how a victim is killed.
“The Mummy” franchise is available July 1. In the first installment, an adventurer in 1926 Egypt travels to Hamunaptra, the City of the Dead, with a librarian and her older brother. Excited by their discoveries, they accidentally awaken Imhotep, a cursed high priest who was mummified alive. Now, the all-powerful Imhotep must be destroyed before his wrath destroys everything in his path. Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz co-star in the action-packed thriller.
Finally, the cult classic “Big Trouble in Little China” stars Kurt Russell...
- 6/30/2023
- by Fern Siegel
- The Streamable
Actor Winona Ryder had turned into a bit of a household name after her starring role in films like Heathers. Since then, Ryder had only expanded her career even further by starring in a string of successful films throughout the 90s.
Despite Ryder’s accomplishments, however, the actor confided she was ashamed to be an actor at one point.
Why Winona Ryder was ashamed of being an actor Winona Ryder | Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
Ryder would’ve never predicted that she’d become an actor. When she was a child, the Stranger Things star saw herself gravitating more towards writing. But Ryder’s parents convinced her to take acting classes after having just moved to a new town. She’d developed a passion for the craft afterwards, and the acting class led her towards being cast in her first project.
This would kick off Ryder’s career, but perhaps she underestimated...
Despite Ryder’s accomplishments, however, the actor confided she was ashamed to be an actor at one point.
Why Winona Ryder was ashamed of being an actor Winona Ryder | Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
Ryder would’ve never predicted that she’d become an actor. When she was a child, the Stranger Things star saw herself gravitating more towards writing. But Ryder’s parents convinced her to take acting classes after having just moved to a new town. She’d developed a passion for the craft afterwards, and the acting class led her towards being cast in her first project.
This would kick off Ryder’s career, but perhaps she underestimated...
- 5/6/2023
- by Antonio Stallings
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Keanu Reeves recently joined Reddit for an Ask Me Anything (Ama) session, where he revealed he is the owner of the original red pill from “The Matrix” franchise. In Lilly and Lana Wachowski’s iconic 1999 action movie, Reeves’ character, Neo, must choose between taking a red pill (that will make him see the truth about the simulated reality he’s living in) or a blue pill (that will keep Neo blinded about the real world and stuck in his droll life). Neo chooses red, and so did Reeves.
Asked by a Redditor if he’s ever stolen something from set, Reeves answered: “Not stolen… the watch and wedding ring from ‘John Wick,’ a sword from ’47 Ronin,’ and the first red pill that the Wachowskis ever gave me.”
Reeves has keepsakes from both of his beloved action franchises, “The Matrix” and “John Wick,” but he refused to compare the two series...
Asked by a Redditor if he’s ever stolen something from set, Reeves answered: “Not stolen… the watch and wedding ring from ‘John Wick,’ a sword from ’47 Ronin,’ and the first red pill that the Wachowskis ever gave me.”
Reeves has keepsakes from both of his beloved action franchises, “The Matrix” and “John Wick,” but he refused to compare the two series...
- 3/7/2023
- by Zack Sharf
- Variety Film + TV
While Hugh Jackman is currently beefing up to play Wolverine for the ninth time in “Deadpool 3,” another beloved actor just revealed he would have loved a shot at the role: Keanu Reeves.
While taking part in a reddit Ama, Reeves was asked if there’s ever been a role in his career that he regretted turning down. He said no, but that he “did always want to play Wolverine,” no doubt jump-starting a whole new fan campaign to get the 58-year-old actor in the role if/when the Marvel Cinematic Universe recasts.
Reeves is no stranger to comic book movies, having led 2005’s DC adaptation “Constantine,” a role he intends to reprise in an upcoming sequel at Warner Bros. But Keanu Reeves as Wolverine? Where’s a “Bill and Ted” time machine when you need it?
The “Matrix” actor’s delightful interactions with fans during the Ama also offered a number of other revelations.
While taking part in a reddit Ama, Reeves was asked if there’s ever been a role in his career that he regretted turning down. He said no, but that he “did always want to play Wolverine,” no doubt jump-starting a whole new fan campaign to get the 58-year-old actor in the role if/when the Marvel Cinematic Universe recasts.
Reeves is no stranger to comic book movies, having led 2005’s DC adaptation “Constantine,” a role he intends to reprise in an upcoming sequel at Warner Bros. But Keanu Reeves as Wolverine? Where’s a “Bill and Ted” time machine when you need it?
The “Matrix” actor’s delightful interactions with fans during the Ama also offered a number of other revelations.
- 3/4/2023
- by Adam Chitwood
- The Wrap
Impressively bleak animated Hungarian sci-fi feature White Plastic Sky imagines a grim dystopia a hundred years from now where, like in Soylent Green (1973), older people are harvested at age 50, turned into trees so that they can become food for the younger generation. Except in this movie, the high-tech cannibalism is no state secret waiting to be blurted out by Charlton Heston, but a fact of life universally accepted phlegmatically by all. It only becomes a problem for protagonist Stefan (Tamas Keresztes) when his wife Nora (Zsofia Szamosi) decides to undergo the “implantation” procedure at age 32, having lost the will to live since the death of their child.
Made using a striking blend of rotoscope-traced live actors and intricate CG-drawn background designs to build a richly detailed world, this could build a cult following off a warm reception in Berlin.
Rotoscoping is a technique that dates back to the earliest days...
Made using a striking blend of rotoscope-traced live actors and intricate CG-drawn background designs to build a richly detailed world, this could build a cult following off a warm reception in Berlin.
Rotoscoping is a technique that dates back to the earliest days...
- 2/28/2023
- by Leslie Felperin
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Philip K. Dick was one of the best science fiction authors in Hollywood. The writer is responsible for some of the biggest and most influential sci-fi stories in the genre, with several of his works making it into TV and film adaptations.
While most of his work usually gets swept up, one has remained in production limbo for over a decade. So what happened to Dick’s Disney adaptation, The King of the Elves?
What is ‘The King of the Elves’ about?
The King of the Elves is a short story written by Dick that was first published in 1953. The story follows an old man named Shadrach who owns a gas station in the fictional Derryville, Colorado. While Shadrach doesn’t make a lot of money running the gas station, he makes enough to sustain his humble lifestyle.
One day, he spots a couple of sickly elves standing in the...
While most of his work usually gets swept up, one has remained in production limbo for over a decade. So what happened to Dick’s Disney adaptation, The King of the Elves?
What is ‘The King of the Elves’ about?
The King of the Elves is a short story written by Dick that was first published in 1953. The story follows an old man named Shadrach who owns a gas station in the fictional Derryville, Colorado. While Shadrach doesn’t make a lot of money running the gas station, he makes enough to sustain his humble lifestyle.
One day, he spots a couple of sickly elves standing in the...
- 2/27/2023
- by Produced by Digital Editors
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
This post contains spoilers for the ending of "Ghost in the Shell."
At least twice throughout its 82-minute runtime, Mamoru Oshii's 1995 anime film adaptation of "Ghost in the Shell" quotes from a biblical passage. On a boat in the fictional New Port City circa 2029, Major Motoko Kusanagi, voiced by Atsuko Tanaka in Japanese and Mimi Woods in the English dubbing, hears a whisper from her "ghost" and says, "For now, we see through a glass, darkly." This same line is referenced in the title of "A Scanner Darkly," with that book's author, Philip K. Dick, having penned the source material for "Blade Runner," a notable influence on "Ghost in the Shell."
Toward the end of the movie, Kusanagi quotes again from the passage in 1 Corinthians more at length, saying, "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child.
At least twice throughout its 82-minute runtime, Mamoru Oshii's 1995 anime film adaptation of "Ghost in the Shell" quotes from a biblical passage. On a boat in the fictional New Port City circa 2029, Major Motoko Kusanagi, voiced by Atsuko Tanaka in Japanese and Mimi Woods in the English dubbing, hears a whisper from her "ghost" and says, "For now, we see through a glass, darkly." This same line is referenced in the title of "A Scanner Darkly," with that book's author, Philip K. Dick, having penned the source material for "Blade Runner," a notable influence on "Ghost in the Shell."
Toward the end of the movie, Kusanagi quotes again from the passage in 1 Corinthians more at length, saying, "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child.
- 2/4/2023
- by Joshua Meyer
- Slash Film
"Undone" is impressive for many reasons, but its ability to combine wildly different genres might be the biggest. On the one hand, there's the stark depiction of listless 20-year-old Alma Winograd-Diaz (Rosa Salazar) and her family drama, which makes the show so emotionally affecting. On the other, there's the wild time and space-bending sci-fi adventure featuring the ghost of her late father, Jacob Winograd (Bob Odenkirk). In the show's first season, after a car accident gives Alma the ability to traverse space and time, she embarks on a multi-dimensional journey to try to solve the mystery of her father's death.
To help pull off such an ambitiously innovative project, "BoJack Horseman" alums Raphael Bob-Waksberg and Kate Purdy used rotoscoping — an animation style created by tracing over real footage. This same technique was used by Richard Linklater in his movies "Waking Life" and "A Scanner Darkly," and was chosen for "Undone" by Dutch animator Hisko Hulsing,...
To help pull off such an ambitiously innovative project, "BoJack Horseman" alums Raphael Bob-Waksberg and Kate Purdy used rotoscoping — an animation style created by tracing over real footage. This same technique was used by Richard Linklater in his movies "Waking Life" and "A Scanner Darkly," and was chosen for "Undone" by Dutch animator Hisko Hulsing,...
- 1/27/2023
- by Joe Roberts
- Slash Film
Richard Linklater on ‘Battle’ With Academy Over ‘Apollo 10 1/2': ‘If It’s Not Animated, What Is It?’
A version of this story about “Apollo 10 ½: A Space Age Childhood” first appeared in the Awards Preview issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.
The Academy made Richard Linklater play a waiting game with “Apollo 10 ½: A Space Age Childhood,” the playful and vaguely autobiographical fantasy of Stanley, a kid recruited by NASA to go on a trial run to the Moon in advance of the far better-known Apollo 11 mission. Initially, the Short Films and Feature Animation Branch ruled that the film didn’t qualify as animation, with the Academy’s rules displaying a longstanding antipathy toward the use of rotoscoping and other techniques to animate on top of live-action performances. But in November, the branch reversed itself and made the film eligible.
“If it’s not animated, what is it?” Linklater said, laughing. “Their reasoning got more into the artistic-choice realm than the technical realm, you know?...
The Academy made Richard Linklater play a waiting game with “Apollo 10 ½: A Space Age Childhood,” the playful and vaguely autobiographical fantasy of Stanley, a kid recruited by NASA to go on a trial run to the Moon in advance of the far better-known Apollo 11 mission. Initially, the Short Films and Feature Animation Branch ruled that the film didn’t qualify as animation, with the Academy’s rules displaying a longstanding antipathy toward the use of rotoscoping and other techniques to animate on top of live-action performances. But in November, the branch reversed itself and made the film eligible.
“If it’s not animated, what is it?” Linklater said, laughing. “Their reasoning got more into the artistic-choice realm than the technical realm, you know?...
- 1/11/2023
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
We all have our favorite movies in any given year. The ones we raise up and champion with lofty titles like “Best Picture” or “Movie of the Year.” Sometimes in an attempt to claim that title we can even reach for consensus—or at least toward films we’re confident others have seen. However, there are times we each discover something that doesn’t have an obvious consensus. In fact, sometimes you can fall in love with a movie that it feels like nobody else in the world knows about.
Below is a collection of films that members of our staff feel that strongly about. They’re not the movies that wound up at the top of our poll for the best movies of 2022, but they’re movies that at least one of us thinks perhaps should… or that you should at least have heard about and have a chance to seek out.
Below is a collection of films that members of our staff feel that strongly about. They’re not the movies that wound up at the top of our poll for the best movies of 2022, but they’re movies that at least one of us thinks perhaps should… or that you should at least have heard about and have a chance to seek out.
- 1/8/2023
- by David Crow
- Den of Geek
"The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special" is a fun, fluffy tribute to the joys of the holiday season that follows Mantis (Pom Klementieff) and Drax (Dave Bautista) as they try to give Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) the best Christmas possible. Poor Peter hasn't been able to have a real Christmas since he was a child, and his first Christmas with his (sort of) adoptive father Yondu (Michael Rooker) wasn't exactly the kind of holiday happiness he needed. In order to show Kraglin's (Sean Gunn) story about Peter's first Christmas with the Ravagers as well as Peter's own flashbacks, director James Gunn used a classic Hollywood staple: rotoscope!
Rotoscoping is an animation technique where artists trace over photographs, creating a fluid kind of realism that's a bit uncanny to watch. The technique was popular in the 1980s, the time Peter would have nostalgia for because that's when he was a kid.
Rotoscoping is an animation technique where artists trace over photographs, creating a fluid kind of realism that's a bit uncanny to watch. The technique was popular in the 1980s, the time Peter would have nostalgia for because that's when he was a kid.
- 11/26/2022
- by Danielle Ryan
- Slash Film
Alongside being a movie megastar, George Clooney has always had a penchant for smaller, less commercially ambitious films. For every "Gravity" and "Ocean's Eleven" there's a "Solaris" or a "Good Night, and Good Luck." The latter of those, released in 2005, was a product of Clooney and Steven Soderbergh's Section Eight Productions — a relatively short-lived production company responsible for the "Ocean's" franchise as well as smaller productions like "Syriana".
The company was shuttered in 2006, with Clooney leaving to start his current production company, Smokehouse Pictures, with his "Good Night, and Good Luck" co-writer and producer Grant Heslov. But for a while, Clooney and Soderbergh's joint venture was churning out an impressive slate of films, some of which proved successful both commercially and critically. But it was the smaller movies that its co-founders were particularly interested in. The two struck a deal with Warner Bros. to make relatively low-budget films in exchange for,...
The company was shuttered in 2006, with Clooney leaving to start his current production company, Smokehouse Pictures, with his "Good Night, and Good Luck" co-writer and producer Grant Heslov. But for a while, Clooney and Soderbergh's joint venture was churning out an impressive slate of films, some of which proved successful both commercially and critically. But it was the smaller movies that its co-founders were particularly interested in. The two struck a deal with Warner Bros. to make relatively low-budget films in exchange for,...
- 11/14/2022
- by Joe Roberts
- Slash Film
It looks like the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has decided that rotoscoping is, in fact, a legitimate animation process. According to IndieWire, the organization has officially declared that Richard Linklater's "Apollo 10 ½: A Space Age Childhood" will be eligible to campaign for the Best Animated Feature category. It was one of three movies mentioned in a statement on movies that seemingly challenged the animation boards, standing alongside the stop-motion "Marcel the Shell With Shoes On" and the hybrid documentary "Eternal Spring." The decision came after all three movies had to submit background materials that proved their determined worth as animated films.
"The Academy is committed to recognizing the innovations within our industry," the Academy wrote in their exclusive statement to IndieWire.
This might be a bit ironic to those who remember why "Apollo 10 ½" was originally disqualified in the first place. According to the Academy's original decision,...
"The Academy is committed to recognizing the innovations within our industry," the Academy wrote in their exclusive statement to IndieWire.
This might be a bit ironic to those who remember why "Apollo 10 ½" was originally disqualified in the first place. According to the Academy's original decision,...
- 11/10/2022
- by Erin Brady
- Slash Film
It's important to remember that animation is not a genre, but rather a medium. It's a medium that can take on so many different forms, from hand-drawn 2D and computer-animated 3D to stop-motion puppeteering. Nowadays, you can even splice together several still frames of paintings to create fluid, animated movement.
However, it seems like rotoscoping — or the process of drawing over live-action frames and animating them separately — is not considered an animation process. At least, it isn't according to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' animation committee.
According to IndieWire, "Apollo 10 ½: A Space Age Childhood" director Richard Linklater was notified that his rotoscope animated movie was rejected from campaigning for Best Animated Feature Film for what the Academy considered "extensive use" of live-action footage. It also contends that any animation style that "could be mistaken for live-action" has to go through a thorough review by the committee.
However, it seems like rotoscoping — or the process of drawing over live-action frames and animating them separately — is not considered an animation process. At least, it isn't according to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' animation committee.
According to IndieWire, "Apollo 10 ½: A Space Age Childhood" director Richard Linklater was notified that his rotoscope animated movie was rejected from campaigning for Best Animated Feature Film for what the Academy considered "extensive use" of live-action footage. It also contends that any animation style that "could be mistaken for live-action" has to go through a thorough review by the committee.
- 10/7/2022
- by Erin Brady
- Slash Film
Richard Linklater’s “Apollo 10 ½: A Space Age Childhood” revisits the 1969 moon landing through the memories of a boy who imagines traveling there himself. It premiered at the SXSW Film Festival in March and surfaced on Netflix the next month after a qualifying run. To depict the nostalgic journey at the center of the movie, Linklater utilized a complex blend of 2D animation styles and employed nearly 200 animators in Austin and Amsterdam over nearly two years.
However, in early July, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ animation committee rejected the Netflix-produced project for Oscar consideration in the category of Best Animated Feature Film.
In a letter from the committee explaining the decision, which was shared with IndieWire, the committee wrote that the Academy “does not feel that the techniques meet the definition of animation in the category rules” due to the “extensive use” of live-action footage.
While the...
However, in early July, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ animation committee rejected the Netflix-produced project for Oscar consideration in the category of Best Animated Feature Film.
In a letter from the committee explaining the decision, which was shared with IndieWire, the committee wrote that the Academy “does not feel that the techniques meet the definition of animation in the category rules” due to the “extensive use” of live-action footage.
While the...
- 10/7/2022
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
Netflix is tightening its belt regarding new animated projects, but that hasn’t stopped the streaming platform from producing one of this year’s most intriguing animation dramas. I submit for your entertainment Kid Cudi’s Entergalactic trailer. Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi and Kenya Barris executive produce this original and emotional story about a young artist named Jabari (Mescudi), who steadily learns that love is the only thing that will save us all.
In the Entergalactic trailer, Jabari moves into a posh apartment and introduces himself to his new neighbor, a photographer, and woman-of-the-moment, Meadow (voiced by Jessica Williams). As the couple explores New York City, taking advantage of all the Big Apple has to offer, the two young lovers learn the ropes of heart and artistic expression.
Timothée Chalamet, Ty Dolla ign, Laura Harrier, Vanessa Hudgens, Christopher Abbott, 070 Shake, Jaden Smith, Keith David, Teyana Taylor, Arturo Castro, and...
In the Entergalactic trailer, Jabari moves into a posh apartment and introduces himself to his new neighbor, a photographer, and woman-of-the-moment, Meadow (voiced by Jessica Williams). As the couple explores New York City, taking advantage of all the Big Apple has to offer, the two young lovers learn the ropes of heart and artistic expression.
Timothée Chalamet, Ty Dolla ign, Laura Harrier, Vanessa Hudgens, Christopher Abbott, 070 Shake, Jaden Smith, Keith David, Teyana Taylor, Arturo Castro, and...
- 9/12/2022
- by Steve Seigh
- JoBlo.com
Oscar-nominated producer Jennifer Fox will return for a fourth time to produce the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Governors Awards. After pandemic cancellations and date changes over the past couple of years, the 13th edition will return to is usual November berth on Saturday, November 19, a key kickoff to Oscar season.
This year’s previously announced honorary awards will be presented to directors Euzhan Palcy and Peter Weir, songwriter Diane Warren, while Michael J. Fox will receive the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.
The ceremony takes place for the first time at the newly reopened Fairmont Century Plaza in Century City. That was also the plan last year before Covid concerns forced the Governors Awards to scale down to a much more intimate event that took place at the Hollywood & Highland ballroom two nights before the Oscars in March of this year. Looks like things are back to normal — hopefully.
This year’s previously announced honorary awards will be presented to directors Euzhan Palcy and Peter Weir, songwriter Diane Warren, while Michael J. Fox will receive the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.
The ceremony takes place for the first time at the newly reopened Fairmont Century Plaza in Century City. That was also the plan last year before Covid concerns forced the Governors Awards to scale down to a much more intimate event that took place at the Hollywood & Highland ballroom two nights before the Oscars in March of this year. Looks like things are back to normal — hopefully.
- 8/31/2022
- by Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is bringing back Oscar-nominated producer Jennifer Fox to produce the 13th Annual Governors Awards, which will present Honorary Awards to Euzhan Palcy, Diane Warren, and Peter Weir, and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award to Michael J. Fox on Saturday, November 19, 2022, at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles.
The news was announced by new Academy President Janet Yang, who said via statement, “We’re thrilled to have Jennifer back at the helm to help us kick off Oscar season with a tribute fitting to these four extraordinary individuals. Her contribution in past years has only elevated this truly special and joyous event.”
This will mark the fourth time the “Michael Clayton” producer has helmed the event, having produced the Governors Awards in 2018, 2019, and this past March, which was the event’s big return after two years off due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The news was announced by new Academy President Janet Yang, who said via statement, “We’re thrilled to have Jennifer back at the helm to help us kick off Oscar season with a tribute fitting to these four extraordinary individuals. Her contribution in past years has only elevated this truly special and joyous event.”
This will mark the fourth time the “Michael Clayton” producer has helmed the event, having produced the Governors Awards in 2018, 2019, and this past March, which was the event’s big return after two years off due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
- 8/31/2022
- by Marcus Jones
- Indiewire
One year after a column in the Paper of Record announced that “we aren’t going back to the movies”… it kind of feels like we are. Yes, the film and exhibition industries remain incredibly volatile and difficult to predict, yet it’s undeniable that in the summer of 2022, audiences began returning to cinemas in droves. And not just to superhero movies. The success of crowdpleasers like Top Gun: Maverick and Elvis acts like a balm for movie lovers, and the sleeper success of truly innovative indies like Everything Everywhere All at Once should leave you downright giddy.
Cinephiles really do have a lot to savor as we enter the dog days of summer and the moviegoing season winds down. It is also in this exact moment, where we inhabit the deep breath between Hollywood spectacle’s biggest months and the beginning of awards season in September, that we find...
Cinephiles really do have a lot to savor as we enter the dog days of summer and the moviegoing season winds down. It is also in this exact moment, where we inhabit the deep breath between Hollywood spectacle’s biggest months and the beginning of awards season in September, that we find...
- 8/12/2022
- by David Crow
- Den of Geek
Philip K. Dick is one of the most prolific science fiction authors of all time, and his short stories and novels have been fodder for frequent screen adaptations. Movies like "Blade Runner," "Total Recall," "Minority Report," "A Scanner Darkly," and "The Adjustment Bureau" all derive from Dick's bibliography, as do the Prime Video series "The Man in the High Castle" and "Electric Dreams." "Jane," however, the latest Prime project drawn from Philip K. Dick, looks instead at the famed writer's own personal life. The title stems from the author's twin sister, Jane, who died six weeks after their premature birth and whose memory went on to...
The post Jane: Everything We Know So Far About Alfonso Cuarón's Philip K. Dick Biopic appeared first on /Film.
The post Jane: Everything We Know So Far About Alfonso Cuarón's Philip K. Dick Biopic appeared first on /Film.
- 7/29/2022
- by Joshua Meyer
- Slash Film
Academy Award winner Charlize Theron (Bombshell) and multi-Academy Award-winning filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón (Roma) will produce the film Jane, examining the family life of trailblazing sci-fi writer Philip K. Dick (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?), for Amazon Studios, Deadline can confirm. They’re partnering on the project with Isa Hackett (The Man in the High Castle), who developed the work based on the lives of her father and his twin sister.
Jane is billed as a story about a woman’s unique relationship with her brilliant, but troubled twin, who also happens to be Philip K. Dick—the celebrated novelist behind Blade Runner source material Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, along with such iconic titles as A Scanner Darkly and The Man in the High Castle, which have likewise been adapted for the screen. While attempting to rescue her brother from predicaments both real and imagined, Jane plunges deeper...
Jane is billed as a story about a woman’s unique relationship with her brilliant, but troubled twin, who also happens to be Philip K. Dick—the celebrated novelist behind Blade Runner source material Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, along with such iconic titles as A Scanner Darkly and The Man in the High Castle, which have likewise been adapted for the screen. While attempting to rescue her brother from predicaments both real and imagined, Jane plunges deeper...
- 7/28/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
As of this writing, filmmaker Richard Linklater has directed three animated features: 2001's "Waking Life," 2006's "A Scanner Darkly," and the brand new "Apollo 10 1⁄2: A Space Age Childhood." In all three cases, Linklater employs an animation technique called rotoscoping, which involves filming live-action actors and then animating directly onto their movements. This allows for imagined backgrounds to come to life ("Apollo 10 1/2" recreated the suburban living rooms of the 1960s without having to build sets) or casual bodily mutation (as with the dreamlike tour guide characters of "Waking Life" who pulse and vibrate). In "A Scanner Darkly," adapted...
The post How School of Rock Pushed Robert Downey Jr. to Star in A Scanner Darkly appeared first on /Film.
The post How School of Rock Pushed Robert Downey Jr. to Star in A Scanner Darkly appeared first on /Film.
- 7/7/2022
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Actress Winona Ryder aka 'Joyce Byers' in the supernatural TV series "Stranger Things", is the new ‘face’ of designer Marc Jacobs posing for the “J Marc Bag” campaign, photographed by Harley Weir:
Notable films Ryder has appeared in include “Heathers” (1988), “Beetlejuice” (1988)…
…“Edward Scissorhands” (1990), “Reality Bites” (1994) and “A Scanner Darkly” (2006).
Ryder was also nominated for two ‘Academy Awards’ including ‘Best Actress’ for “Little Women” and ‘Best Supporting Actress’ for “The Age of Innocence”.
Click the images to enlarge…
<...
Notable films Ryder has appeared in include “Heathers” (1988), “Beetlejuice” (1988)…
…“Edward Scissorhands” (1990), “Reality Bites” (1994) and “A Scanner Darkly” (2006).
Ryder was also nominated for two ‘Academy Awards’ including ‘Best Actress’ for “Little Women” and ‘Best Supporting Actress’ for “The Age of Innocence”.
Click the images to enlarge…
<...
- 7/5/2022
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
Actress Winona Ryder aka 'Joyce Byers' in the supernatural TV series "Stranger Things", is the new ‘face’ of designer Marc Jacobs in the posing for the “J Marc Bag” campaign, photographed by Harley Weir:
Notable films Ryder has appeared in include “Heathers” (1988), “Beetlejuice” (1988)…
…“Edward Scissorhands” (1990), “Reality Bites” (1994) and “A Scanner Darkly” (2006).
Ryder was also nominated for two ‘Academy Awards’ including ‘Best Actress’ for “Little Women” and ‘Best Supporting Actress’ for “The Age of Innocence”.
Click the images to enlarge…...
Notable films Ryder has appeared in include “Heathers” (1988), “Beetlejuice” (1988)…
…“Edward Scissorhands” (1990), “Reality Bites” (1994) and “A Scanner Darkly” (2006).
Ryder was also nominated for two ‘Academy Awards’ including ‘Best Actress’ for “Little Women” and ‘Best Supporting Actress’ for “The Age of Innocence”.
Click the images to enlarge…...
- 7/2/2022
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
Director James Marsh is set to direct a new hybrid animated documentary feature for Submarine and Sandpaper Films.
“Oasis, Saving the Baghdad Zoo” (working title), is a feature-length animated documentary partly based on “Babylon’s Ark,” the book about a year-long rescue mission of animals abandoned across Baghdad by Saddam Hussein and his son Uday.
Billed as a 21st century Noah’s Ark, the film will show how a team of American soldiers, Iraqi zookeepers, and international volunteers tended to lions, camels, bears, exotic birds, monkeys, pigs and even an ocelot in the middle of a brutal war, risking their own lives in the process.
The zoo was first abandoned during 2003’s Battle of Baghdad, when Hussein’s troops battled the U.S. military. Amid the chaos and violence, a team of compassionate volunteers set out to find the zoo’s missing inhabitants, including a pride of lions tracked down...
“Oasis, Saving the Baghdad Zoo” (working title), is a feature-length animated documentary partly based on “Babylon’s Ark,” the book about a year-long rescue mission of animals abandoned across Baghdad by Saddam Hussein and his son Uday.
Billed as a 21st century Noah’s Ark, the film will show how a team of American soldiers, Iraqi zookeepers, and international volunteers tended to lions, camels, bears, exotic birds, monkeys, pigs and even an ocelot in the middle of a brutal war, risking their own lives in the process.
The zoo was first abandoned during 2003’s Battle of Baghdad, when Hussein’s troops battled the U.S. military. Amid the chaos and violence, a team of compassionate volunteers set out to find the zoo’s missing inhabitants, including a pride of lions tracked down...
- 6/21/2022
- by K.J. Yossman
- Variety Film + TV
Actress Winona Ryder aka 'Joyce Byers' in the supernatural TV series "Stranger Things", is the new ‘face’ of designer Marc Jacobs in the posing for the “J Marc Bag” campaign, photographed by Harley Weir:
Notable films Ryder has appeared in include “Heathers” (1988), “Beetlejuice” (1988)…
…“Edward Scissorhands” (1990), “Reality Bites” (1994) and “A Scanner Darkly” (2006).
Ryder was also nominated for two ‘Academy Awards’ including ‘Best Actress’ for “Little Women” and ‘Best Supporting Actress’ for “The Age of Innocence”.
Click the images to enlarge…
400...
Notable films Ryder has appeared in include “Heathers” (1988), “Beetlejuice” (1988)…
…“Edward Scissorhands” (1990), “Reality Bites” (1994) and “A Scanner Darkly” (2006).
Ryder was also nominated for two ‘Academy Awards’ including ‘Best Actress’ for “Little Women” and ‘Best Supporting Actress’ for “The Age of Innocence”.
Click the images to enlarge…
400...
- 6/4/2022
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
When talking to the cast and crew behind Amazon Prime Video’s trippy series Undone, the last thing you want to do is ask about the rotoscoping of it all too early.
First deployed in the early 20th century, rotoscoping is an animation technique in which artists paint over live-action footage to make the movement of animated characters appear more realistic. Deployed strategically and sparingly in films like Cinderella and Mary Poppins, director Richard Linklater revolutionized the concept in the modern era with fully digital rotoscoped feature films like Waking Life in 2001 and A Scanner Darkly in 2006.
Per Prime Video, Undone is first TV series to fully utilize the technique, so naturally you’d want to ask about it when stars Rosa Salazar, Angelique Cabral, Constance Marie; creator Kate Purdy; and director Hisko Hulsings sit down at Den of Geek video studio during SXSW to discuss the upcoming second season of the show.
First deployed in the early 20th century, rotoscoping is an animation technique in which artists paint over live-action footage to make the movement of animated characters appear more realistic. Deployed strategically and sparingly in films like Cinderella and Mary Poppins, director Richard Linklater revolutionized the concept in the modern era with fully digital rotoscoped feature films like Waking Life in 2001 and A Scanner Darkly in 2006.
Per Prime Video, Undone is first TV series to fully utilize the technique, so naturally you’d want to ask about it when stars Rosa Salazar, Angelique Cabral, Constance Marie; creator Kate Purdy; and director Hisko Hulsings sit down at Den of Geek video studio during SXSW to discuss the upcoming second season of the show.
- 4/29/2022
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
May on the Criterion Channel will be good to the auteurs. In fact they’re giving Richard Linklater better treatment than the distributor of his last film, with a 13-title retrospective mixing usual suspects—the Before trilogy, Boyhood, Slacker—with some truly off the beaten track. There’s a few shorts I haven’t seen but most intriguing is Heads I Win/Tails You Lose, the only available description of which calls it a four-hour (!) piece “edited together by Richard Linklater in 1991 from film countdowns and tail leaders from films submitted to the Austin Film Society in Austin, Texas from 1987 to 1990. It is Linklater’s tribute to the film countdown, used by many projectionists over the years to cue one reel of film after another when switching to another reel on another projector during projection.” Pair that with 2008’s Inning by Inning: A Portrait of a Coach and your completionism will be on-track.
- 4/21/2022
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
“Apollo 10 1/2” (currently streaming on Netflix) is the latest time machine from Richard Linklater.
Instead of traveling to the immediate past (like “Boyhood”) or the 1970s (like “Dazed and Confused” or “Everybody Wants Some!!”), Linklater instead sets his sights on a suburb of Houston, Texas, in the late 1960s. The space race is heating up, the Apollo missions are about to begin, but there’s one problem – they built the space capsule a little too small. That’s when some NASA guys (Glen Powell and Zachary Levi) enlist a kid named Stan (Milo Coy) to be the actual first man, er, child, on the moon. Lovingly narrated by Jack Black, it’s just as much a catalogue of the time as it is a pint-sized space odyssey – everything from what was running on television to the way people drank their beers is lovingly detailed.
And what makes it even...
Instead of traveling to the immediate past (like “Boyhood”) or the 1970s (like “Dazed and Confused” or “Everybody Wants Some!!”), Linklater instead sets his sights on a suburb of Houston, Texas, in the late 1960s. The space race is heating up, the Apollo missions are about to begin, but there’s one problem – they built the space capsule a little too small. That’s when some NASA guys (Glen Powell and Zachary Levi) enlist a kid named Stan (Milo Coy) to be the actual first man, er, child, on the moon. Lovingly narrated by Jack Black, it’s just as much a catalogue of the time as it is a pint-sized space odyssey – everything from what was running on television to the way people drank their beers is lovingly detailed.
And what makes it even...
- 4/8/2022
- by Drew Taylor
- The Wrap
It’s been more than two and a half years since Prime Video’s Undone debuted on the streamer, but for Alma Winograd-Diaz, time is merely relative.
In Season 2 of the genre-bending animated series (all eight episodes will be released on Friday, April 29), Alma realizes there are deeper mysteries in her family’s past. However, no one in her family is interested in digging into these uncomfortable truths — until she finally convinces Becca to help. As the sisters search for answers, they unravel a complex network of memories and motivations that have shaped who they are today.
More from TVLineUndone...
In Season 2 of the genre-bending animated series (all eight episodes will be released on Friday, April 29), Alma realizes there are deeper mysteries in her family’s past. However, no one in her family is interested in digging into these uncomfortable truths — until she finally convinces Becca to help. As the sisters search for answers, they unravel a complex network of memories and motivations that have shaped who they are today.
More from TVLineUndone...
- 4/2/2022
- by Nick Caruso
- TVLine.com
Growing up in the NASA hub of Houston, Richard Linklater remembers the pervasive impact the first moon landing had on his childhood. He fuses those memories with fantasy in his new movie, the animated “Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood” (currently streaming on Netflix).
Linklater even likens it to a cinematic scrapbook: It’s both a nostalgic snapshot of the ordinary suburban childhood he experienced and the extraordinary scientific achievement he witnessed. In fact, he describes it as “A Portrait of a Free Range Childhood,” in which his alter ego, fourth grader Stan, fantasizes about making his own secret trip to the moon.
“Getting to do this was wonderful in a ‘You Are There’ realism,” Linklater said, referring to the Walter Cronkite-hosted educational TV series about American history. “It was a significant moment in time that will be remembered forever: when humans first left the atmosphere of their...
Linklater even likens it to a cinematic scrapbook: It’s both a nostalgic snapshot of the ordinary suburban childhood he experienced and the extraordinary scientific achievement he witnessed. In fact, he describes it as “A Portrait of a Free Range Childhood,” in which his alter ego, fourth grader Stan, fantasizes about making his own secret trip to the moon.
“Getting to do this was wonderful in a ‘You Are There’ realism,” Linklater said, referring to the Walter Cronkite-hosted educational TV series about American history. “It was a significant moment in time that will be remembered forever: when humans first left the atmosphere of their...
- 4/1/2022
- by Bill Desowitz
- Indiewire
This review of “Apollo 10 1/2” was first published on March 13, after its screening at SXSW.
Richard Linklater digs into his own salad days for “Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood,” an animated feature that fondly recalls the NASA moment in a way that’s more reminiscent of “Amarcord” or “Crooklyn” than of “First Man.”
As a kid who was born in 1960 and grew up in the suburbs of Houston, like the film’s young hero, Linklater had a front-row seat to the race to the moon. In this delightfully evocative exercise in nostalgia, he captures the way that children will remember historic events in the context of what else was on TV, which siblings got to sit on the couch, and how your favorite song made you feel.
The story here is ostensibly about young Stan (voiced by Milo Coy), a schoolboy recruited by NASA (because of his...
Richard Linklater digs into his own salad days for “Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood,” an animated feature that fondly recalls the NASA moment in a way that’s more reminiscent of “Amarcord” or “Crooklyn” than of “First Man.”
As a kid who was born in 1960 and grew up in the suburbs of Houston, like the film’s young hero, Linklater had a front-row seat to the race to the moon. In this delightfully evocative exercise in nostalgia, he captures the way that children will remember historic events in the context of what else was on TV, which siblings got to sit on the couch, and how your favorite song made you feel.
The story here is ostensibly about young Stan (voiced by Milo Coy), a schoolboy recruited by NASA (because of his...
- 4/1/2022
- by Alonso Duralde
- The Wrap
With the Oscars in the rearview, it’s time to turn our sights to some fresh content. Or, in the case of Netflix’s April slate, old content that suddenly feels pretty fresh when stacked up next to titles like “The Power of the Dog” and “Don’t Look Up,” which by this point have worn out their welcome.
While Judd Apatow fans will be flocking to the streamer for the release of his pandemic-themed ensemble comedy “The Bubble,” there are alternatives for those who aren’t quite ready to laugh at the events of the past two years — especially in the context of a Hollywood movie set facing down Covid-19 protocols and CGI-driven hijinks.
That film drops April 1, but another high-profile premiere from an American filmmaker also lands on Netflix: ” Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood,” Texas auteur Richard Linklater’s first return to animation since 2006’s “A Scanner Darkly.
While Judd Apatow fans will be flocking to the streamer for the release of his pandemic-themed ensemble comedy “The Bubble,” there are alternatives for those who aren’t quite ready to laugh at the events of the past two years — especially in the context of a Hollywood movie set facing down Covid-19 protocols and CGI-driven hijinks.
That film drops April 1, but another high-profile premiere from an American filmmaker also lands on Netflix: ” Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood,” Texas auteur Richard Linklater’s first return to animation since 2006’s “A Scanner Darkly.
- 4/1/2022
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Richard Linklater’s “Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood” is so nostalgic, personal and picture-perfect in imagining Houston in 1969 that it feels like it must be an autobiography of the Texan director. But Linklater explains that, like all his films that feel effortlessly conversational and natural, it’s all carefully constructed to bring you into that fantasy.
“You’re so pulled into the specifics that seem so personal that you buy the fantastic element that makes it seem real,” Linklater told TheWrap. “There’s still tricks you can do as a storyteller to lull the audience and pull them into a headspace. I kind of do that with a long take in actors: oh it must be real, it’s all so real. It’s not. It’s all written and rehearsed. Everything is a magic trick.”
“Apollo 10 1/2,” which premieres at SXSW, is one of his best tricks in years.
“You’re so pulled into the specifics that seem so personal that you buy the fantastic element that makes it seem real,” Linklater told TheWrap. “There’s still tricks you can do as a storyteller to lull the audience and pull them into a headspace. I kind of do that with a long take in actors: oh it must be real, it’s all so real. It’s not. It’s all written and rehearsed. Everything is a magic trick.”
“Apollo 10 1/2,” which premieres at SXSW, is one of his best tricks in years.
- 4/1/2022
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
When Richard Linklater was in second grade, he became enthralled by the historical moment that was happening right in his Houston backyard as NASA prepared for the Apollo moon landing. Decades later, it occurred to Linklater that he was probably the only filmmaker who remembered the excitement of that moment and was also that geographically close to NASA, a realization that led to his latest feature as writer-director, Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood. Combining the delicate observational eye and ear of Boyhood with the more fantastical animated approach of Waking Life and A Scanner Darkly, Apollo 10½ tells the […]
The post “I Think for Every Story There is a Hidden Way to Tell it Best, and Your Journey is to Try to Find It”: Director Rick Linklater on Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “I Think for Every Story There is a Hidden Way to Tell it Best, and Your Journey is to Try to Find It”: Director Rick Linklater on Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 4/1/2022
- by Jim Hemphill
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
When Richard Linklater was in second grade, he became enthralled by the historical moment that was happening right in his Houston backyard as NASA prepared for the Apollo moon landing. Decades later, it occurred to Linklater that he was probably the only filmmaker who remembered the excitement of that moment and was also that geographically close to NASA, a realization that led to his latest feature as writer-director, Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood. Combining the delicate observational eye and ear of Boyhood with the more fantastical animated approach of Waking Life and A Scanner Darkly, Apollo 10½ tells the […]
The post “I Think for Every Story There is a Hidden Way to Tell it Best, and Your Journey is to Try to Find It”: Director Rick Linklater on Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “I Think for Every Story There is a Hidden Way to Tell it Best, and Your Journey is to Try to Find It”: Director Rick Linklater on Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 4/1/2022
- by Jim Hemphill
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
It’s been 16 years since Richard Linklater last made a film in the art style he helped popularize with movies like Waking Life (2001) and A Scanner Darkly (2006). At the time, he thought he’d taken the rotoscope technique—where animators draw artwork, frame by frame, atop live-action footage—as far as he personally could with a film that featured Keanu Reeves losing his grip and perception on reality.
And yet, when thinking back to his own halcyon days as a child growing up in the Houston suburbs during a time of technological innovation and wonders—the time of the Apollo 11 mission and when a man walked on the moon—he realized his own nine-year-old understanding of the world wasn’t that different from, say, Keanu’s dream life. And exploring that paradox is what gives his ultimately semi-autobiographical reverie, this weekend’s Netflix release of Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood,...
And yet, when thinking back to his own halcyon days as a child growing up in the Houston suburbs during a time of technological innovation and wonders—the time of the Apollo 11 mission and when a man walked on the moon—he realized his own nine-year-old understanding of the world wasn’t that different from, say, Keanu’s dream life. And exploring that paradox is what gives his ultimately semi-autobiographical reverie, this weekend’s Netflix release of Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood,...
- 4/1/2022
- by David Crow
- Den of Geek
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