Charles Bramesco
James Cameron Wants ‘Avatar’ Sequels to Run at Higher Frame Rates, Escape Reality
It was just this past April that blockbuster alchemist James Cameron made the promise/threat of four sequels to his massively lucrative sci-fi fantasy Avatar. Having apparently calculated “eight years or so” as the optimal amount of time to let Avatar fever percolate before reaching a boiling point, the filmmaker hinted at plans for his follow-up(s) while accepting his honorary membership into the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers on Friday night. Indiewire reports that while entering an elite group of industry professionals devoted to expanding the technological reach of film, Cameron stated his intentions to bring Avatar even further into the future with groundbreaking techniques and equipment.
‘Aquaman’ Will Be in the Spirit of ‘Romancing the Stone’ and ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’
The ages-old query of “So, who were your influences on the film?” still appears regularly in interviews following a big-name movie’s release. But in recent years, directors have started to name the films they drew from before the premiere as a way of drumming up anticipatory buzz. At the Star Wars Celebration in London earlier this year, Episode VIII director Rian Johnson name-checked Bridge on the River Kwai, Three Outlaw Samurai, Letter Never Sent, and 12 O’Clock High as points of reference for the next Star Wars picture. The initial public response went along the lines of “lol what the hell are you talking about,” but eventually cooled into “Alright, can’t front, that sounds pretty awesome.”
Will Ferrell to Star as Ronald Reagan in Satirical Biopic
As a President and as a man, Ronald Reagan has a complex and divisive legacy. To modern-day conservatives, his sweeping return of power to the free market and decentralization of federal influence was tantamount to an act of God; to his detractors, Reagan’s the guy who waged a racist “War on Drugs” and may or may not have approved the governmental manufacturing of crack-cocaine, the guy who allowe
The Hunt for Kate Moss Is Afoot in ‘Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie’ Trailer
Like an enjoyable version of Entourage, the cult-beloved Britcom Absolutely Fabulous took an acidic, satirical eye to the world of celebrity and fame. A pair of aging PR agents with delusions of life of the A-list cut a calamitous swath through thirty-nine episodes of booze-and-drug-fueled hijinks in the early ’90s, and now the nostalgia factor has reunited creator/star Jennifer Saunders with her co-star Joanna Lumley for a feature-length movie. It turns out ten years’ worth of aging has only made the actresses and their characters more hilariously tragic, their futile attempts to muscle into exclusive soirees and land new clients twice as disastrous.
‘The Phantom Menace’ Star Jake Lloyd Admitted to Psychiatric Facility Following Arrest Last Year
Revisiting Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, it’s easy to hate li’l Annie Skywalker, the hero-to-be of the film. He says a lot of dumb stuff, mostly about sand, or angels, or whether or not this is podracing. (To clarify: it is, indeed, podracing...
Warner Bros. Jump-Starts ‘Cannonball Run’ Remake
The original film collected Burt Reynolds, Roger Moore, Dom DeLuise, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Farrah Fawcett, Jackie Chan, Jamie Farr, and Peter Fonda in a cameo role, which means this new Cannonball Run will be required to cast at least nine beloved famous people if they want to get this up and running. Truly, the Fast and Furious parallels could not be more glaring.
In-Home Screening Room Draws Support From Major Filmmakers
Last week, we took note of a new business venture called Screening Room spearheaded by Napster founder Sean Parker. The proposed service would digitally stream the latest major-studio theatrical releases into the confines of private American homes for a hefty estimated fee of $50 on the same day as in-theater premieres, rendering a trip to the local cineplex less necessary than ever. Naturally, this radical new strategy would change the entire face of the industry, and has accordingly raised hackles on the production, distribution, and exhibition sides of Hollywood. As movie theaters struggle to stay relevant and profitable, Parker’s every press conference sounds like a death knell. And this weekend, both sides of this instantly contentious debate dug in their heels on their positions.
Watch Expert Marskman Keanu Reeves Shoot a Bunch of Stuff Training for ‘John Wick 2’
Over the course of a human life, a person’s coolness quotient should follow a basic pattern. Infants, with their constant crying and inability to clean their own buttocks, are decidedly uncool. Children occasionally say cool things, but are mostly little spaz-bots intent on making everything sticky...
‘Pacific Rim 2’ Takes on ‘Spartacus’ Creator Steven S. DeKnight as Director
A quick refresher for those not up on the brief but troubled history of the sequel to Guillermo del Toro’s kaiju-throwback Pacific Rim: First, the notorious G.D.T. confirmed that the sequel would be here by April 2017. The production team had plans to beginning shooting back in November, but by September, presiding studio Universal had deemed a Pacific Rim sequel a low priority and placed it on the proverbial back burner. After indefinitely halting production on the film in mid-September, Universal took the film off of its release calendar at the end of that month. As recently as last month, Universal stated it had no interest in producing the film on its own — perhaps due to Crimson Peak’s sadly lackluster showing at the box-office — but apparently the project has taken on a new life due to Legendary Pictures. (Worth noting is that Legendary was recently acquired by China’s Wanda Pictures, and that Pacific Rim played like gangbusters overseas.)
‘Pee-wee’s Big Holiday’ Trailer Promises Fun, Antics, Wordplay
There are few TV shows as purely, innocently, and energetically delightful as Pee-wee’s Playhouse, the Saturday morning vehicle for Paul Reubens’ grey-suited man-child. An adult perpetually trapped at the stage of early boyhood in which kids mostly say funny nonsensical things and that’s it, Pee-Wee and his colorful gang of anthropomorphic pals brought a hefty dose of camp humor to the happy shiny
David Bowie Auditioned to Play Elrond in ‘Lord of the Rings’
Dominic Monaghan, known for his role as Merry in the Lord of the Rings series of films, sat down for an interview in which he tossed off a delectable anecdote about running into Bowie at the casting sessions for Peter Jackson’s fantasy epic. Instead of instantly vomiting and hastily fleeing the room, as this writer would have done, Monaghan kept it pretty cool.
George Lucas Explains Why He Would Never Want to Make Another ‘Star Wars’ Movie
George Lucas recently commented about why he walked away from Star Wars and it’s all your fault. In a new video interview for Vanity Fair, the Star Wars creator voiced some of his frustrations with the past of the franchise and his hopes for the future, yielding some uncharacteristically candid soundbites.