The Pitch: Alfonse Capone (Tom Hardy) was once the scourge of the FBI and law enforcement across the nation. He was Public Enemy Number One, the king of Chicago’s underground, the scourge of FBI agent Elliot Ness, who lived high on the hog and killed people with a gold plated Tommy Gunn. Now? It’s the mid-40s and untreated syphilis has caught up with the aging Capone, decrepit before his time and the FBI is getting sick of surveying him at his home on Palm Island, Florida. Supervising Agent Crawford (Jack Lowden) thinks there’s something Capone still knows, that he’s still hiding. Capone, now going by Fonzo to keep his profile low — even as he lives on a sprawling estate with his wife (Linda Cardellini), full battery of protection, and serving and gardening staff — starts to imagine he can...
Jonah Hill (Paramount Pictures) and Samuel L. Jackson (Walt Disney Studios) In some literal “what the fuck?” news, a new report from Buzz Bingo reveals that Jonah Hill has passed Samuel L. Jackson for the most swear words spoken in cinema history. Via The Wrap, Hill has cursed 376 times on film, compared to a mere 301 bad words from the original BAMF. That’s actually only good enough for third place, as Leonardo DiCaprio takes the spot right behind Hill with 361 expletives. According to an analysis of over 3,5000 movie scripts, Jackson lost the invective apex way back in 2013, which is also when The Wolf of Wall Street became the most profane movie of all time. That foulmouthed flick almost singlehandedly pushed Hill into first place and DiCaprio into second. Not coincidentally, ...
The world’s last Blockbuster store has already survived Netflix and the streaming wars, so what’s the worst pandemic in decades? As Vice reports, the Bend, Oregon franchise is still open even in the time of coronavirus, although it hasn’t been easy. Led by general manager Sandi Harding, the store became the last link in the global video rental chain about two years ago. It’s kept going this long through a mix of nostalgia, novelty, and what seems to be genuinely good leadership — but then, that’s true of many local institutions that have permanently closed during the COVID-19 crisis. The last Blockbuster is holding strong. It isn’t just relying on rentals — the store sells made-in-Oregon merch, such as a bumper sticker that reads “I SURVIVED ALONG WITH THE LAST BLOCKBUSTER”. Hard...
Who’s ready for another streaming service? In two weeks’ time, HBO will launch its new premium subscription platform, HBO Max, promising a number of new original titles alongside 10,000 hours of archival content. But there’s plenty more to come beyond its initial slate of programming. The second wave of HBO Max titles will go live beginning Thursday, June 18th, with additional programming added each Thursday thereafter. Among the highlights: a new Adventure Time special called Distant Lands premiering on June 25th; season 2 of Doom Patrol and season 3 of Search Party, both of which are also coming on the 25th; and the new Seth Rogen feature film, American Pickle, which is set to premiere on August 6th. Additionally, at launch HBO Max will be offering every episode of Robot Chicken and...
It’s all happening: For its 20th anniversary, the cast and crew of Cameron Crowe’s Almost Famous are reuniting for James Andrew Miller’s Origins podcast. Ever the golden god himself, the award-winning author and host got everyone back on the bus. That includes Crowe, Kate Hudson, Billy Crudup, Frances McDormand, Jason Lee, Patrick Fugit, Zooey Deschanel, Jimmy Fallon, Peter Frampton, Nancy Wilson, and the list goes on. Below, Miller’s dropped a three-minute trailer chock full of quotes to get you pumped. The show begins soon, so subscribe to the series now and go get some BBQ, man. In the past, Miller’s Origins series has offered oral histories on Curb Your Enthusiasm, ESPN, and Sex & the City. He’s also published definitive tomes on Saturday Night Live and CAA.
Let’s great one thing straight: Robert Pattinson is an incredible actor. After rising to reluctant fame on the shimmering back of the Twilight franchise, he’s challenged himself and audiences alike with roles in films like The Safdie Brothers’ excellent Good Time or Robert Eggers’ brilliant The Lighthouse. Despite his resistance to maintaining his workout regime while The Batman is on hold, all signs point to him making an intriguing Bruce Wayne. We love R. Patz — but the dude is an agent of chaos. Don’t get us wrong, he’s the best kind of crazy, a playful loner who very simply is who he is. He’s a genuine article, unflinching in his own offbeat persona and peculiarities. Few other Hollywood stars can play the big-budget franchise and selective indie film circuits the way Pattins...
Jamie Lee Curtis is back on her live-watch game. Today, Universal announced it will be taking over weekends with a series of Twitter watch parties, and Laurie Strode herself will kick things off this Saturday, May 16th with 2018’s Halloween. She won’t be alone when she returns to Haddonfield, Illinois. Director David Gordon Green will co-host alongside the Scream Queen and entertain special guests John Carpenter, Jason Blum, Judy Greer, James Jude Courtney, and Nick Castle. Sadly, Dr. Sartain will not be joining them. Editors’ Picks The rest of the month will see watch parties for Apollo 13, hosted by former NASA Astronaut Scott Kelly, in addition to The Breakfast Club, hosted by everyone’s favorite site founded by Chris Hardwick: Nerdist. Radical. In order to join, simply follow the...
Spelling It Out: Parents Kevin (Sean Rogerson) and Beth Parsons (Keegan Connor Tracy) notice their eight-year-old son, Josh (Jett Klyne), has begun to play with a mysterious imaginary friend he calls Z. What at first seems like a childish phase quickly becomes destructive and dangerous. As Z causes chaos in Josh’s life and those of his friends and family, we learn that Z may have more sinister origins and desires. Real-Life Parent Horror: While the titular monster is the main source of horror, director-writer Brandon Christensen’s Z features prime examples of everyday parental nightmares. Josh doesn’t seem to have many friends and he’s not doing well in school. Parents will connect with the pain of worrying that their child is an outcast and struggling to know how to intervene. Particularl...
Whether you’ve been toiling over your sourdough starter, or watching Chrissy Teigen and Alison Roman feud over recipes and branding, one thing’s for sure: the kitchen has become the absolute hotspot during quarantine. With production on Matt Reeves’ new Batman movie shutdown because of the pandemic, that’s certainly where actor Robert Pattinson has been spending a lot of his time. In fact, he’s been diligently working on his fledgling pasta business and signature dish, piccolini cuscino, or “little pillow” in Italian. His culinary endeavors haven’t gone well, though. In fact, they’ve literally gone up in flames. The misfires aren’t due to Pattinson’s inability to cook, per se, but rather his overall worldview on cooking in general: The Batman star’s got some pretty batshit k...
Josh Gad built a time machine… out of a YouTube channel. After reuniting the Goonies last week, Gad’s new livestream series “Reunited Apart” has now brought back together the cast of Back to the Future. In addition to the trilogy’s stars, Michael J. Fox (Marty McFly) and Christopher Lloyd (Doc Brown), the reunion featured appearances from franchise cast members Lea Thompson, Mary Steenburgen, Elisabeth Shue, and Claudia Wells. Director Robert Zemeckis, screenwriter Bob Gale, “The Power of Love” songwriter Huey Lewis, and composer Alan Silvestri also joined. Even recent Star Wars director and longtime Back to the Future fan J.J. Abrams hopped on the stream to participate in the festivities. Editors’ Picks As with Gad’s Goonies reunion, the Back to the Future v...
Disney is fast-tracking the release of a film version of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tony Award-winning musical, Hamilton, starring the original cast. Originally, the film was set to hit theaters in October 2021, but with millions of Americans currently stuck at home in quarantine, the studio is now altering those plans. Not only will Hamilton be released 15 months early — July 3rd, 2020, to be exact — but it’ll be streaming exclusively on Disney+. “In light of the extraordinary challenges facing our world, this story about leadership, tenacity, hope, love and the power of people to unite against the forces of adversity is both relevant and impactful,” Disney chairman Bob Iger said in a statement. “We are thrilled to bring this phenomenon to Disney+ on the eve of Independence Day, and we hav...
Tomorrow was supposed to mark the first day of the 2020 Cannes Film Festival. However, back in March, the event was postponed in light of the coronavirus, with plans to stage the cinematic celebration in July. Now, though, festival director Thierry Frémaux has told Screen Daily that the 73rd annual Cannes Film Festival has officially been canceled altogether. Frémaux and the Cannes team seem to have come to a conclusion that’s becoming increasingly evident around the entertainment industry: hosting major events in 2020 appears to be impracticable. “Under the circumstances, a physical edition of Cannes 2020 is hard to envisage, so we’ll have to do something different,” Frémaux said. “A ‘festival’ is a collective party, a spectacle that brings together an audience in a given location, in thi...