Charles Bramesco
Robert Englund Suits Up as Freddy Krueger Once Again for ‘Nightmares in the Makeup Chair’
Over the course of the eight Nightmare on Elm Street films, Robert Englund made dream stalker Freddy Krueger from a slasher-film specter into a major cultural icon. His sartorially questionable striped sweater/fedora combo, the pepperoni-like complexion, the razor-blade gloves — it’s all been enshrined in the horror hall of fame for years. He officially laid his signature character to rest with 2003’s Freddy vs. Jason, turning the role over to Jackie Earle Haley for the 2010 remake, but a new project indicates that Englund and Freddy can’t get rid of one another that easily.
Charlie Hunnam’s a Man on a Mission in New ‘Lost City of Z’ Trailer
James Gray got played hard on his last release, the classically-minded drama The Immigrant. The film earned rapturous reviews out of its premiere at Cannes and landed a distribution deal with the power players at the Weinstein Company — who then let it languish in obscurity before quietly releasing it over a year later. The film was a triumph among critics but a huge missed opportunity from an industry perspective. Hopefully, Gray will have a better go with the less domineering Amazon Studios, who will release his new picture The Lost City of Z in April.
Hear John Legend and Ariana Grande Belting in Final ‘Beauty and the Beast’ Trailer
About a month and a half separate the viewing public from the much-hyped live-action remake of Disney’s essential fairytale Beauty and the Beast. While regular TV viewers and net-surfers can look forward to an uninterrupted stream of commercials and ads until then, Disney has given one last push of publicity today with the final trailer promoting their handsomely-appointed new film. And as if to sweeten the deal, they included a snippet of the previously announced re-recording of the majestic theme tune, as sung by La La Land jazz-diluter John Legend and travel-size pop starlet Ariana Grande.
Turns Out Ben Affleck Won’t Direct ‘The Batman’ After All, But Here’s Who Might
A story, told in headlines: Here’s us on December 18, reporting on Ben Affleck’s voicing of slight misgivings about his tentative gig as the director of the new Batman solo film:
Daisy Ridley Will Test Her Spy Skills for ‘A Woman of No Importance’
Daisy Ridley’s coronation as the next major movie star is continuing right on schedule. She got her big break as the face of the new trilogy of Star Wars sequels, parlayed that into a couple of quick but low-profile voice acting gigs as the narrator of The Eagle Huntress and a character in the English dub of Studio Ghibli’s Only Yesterday, and landed a prospective prestige role in Kenneth Branagh’s Murder on the Orient Express remake. All that’s missing is the star vehicle independent of a major pre-existing franchise, something a studio can build specifically for her from the ground up.
It’s Official: ‘Star Wars: Episode VIII’ Is Titled ‘The Last Jedi’
We’ve got 11 long months to go before anyone will get a look at Star Wars: Episode VIII, so Lucasfilm has tried to pace itself with leaking details of the hotly anticipated upcoming release. Today, however, they dropped a big one: on the official Star Wars web site, a new announcement revealed the subtitle for the eighth installment in what the site refers to as “the Skywalker saga.” The post declared, “We have the greatest fans in this or any other galaxy. In appreciation of the fans, we wanted them to be the first to know the title of the next chapter in the Skywalker saga: STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI.”
Ongoing Legal Battle Between Paramount, ‘Star Trek’ Fans Reaches Thrilling Conclusion
When we last checked in with the evolving lawsuit that Paramount and CBS filed against the creators of Star Trek fan film Axanar, things weren’t looking so hot for DIY producer Alec Peters. In a ruling chockablock with Trek puns, the judge declared that a jury of Peters’ peers would be responsible for determining whether his film infringed upon Paramount’s legal copyrights in terms of actual people, places, and things (“objective substantial similarity”) as well as overall spirit and feel of the Star Trek franchise (“subjective substantial similarity”). I’m no legal professional, but even this layman could see pretty plainly that Peters’ ass was legal grass, and Paramount was preparing to mow it.
Octavia Spencer Bought Out a ‘Hidden Figures’ Showing for Low-Income Families
Like many American moviegoers, I caught the new film Hidden Figures over the weekend. And throughout the true-to-life account of three pioneering women of color that broke boundaries at NASA, one thought kept reoccurring to me (well, two, if you count my realization that I am deeply in love with Janelle Monae): that much like the Wu-Tang, Hidden Figures is for the children. The story’s prevailing message that gender or skin color shouldn’t hinder anyone from achieving excellence is precisely what the youth in this country need, arguably now more than ever. The one problem, of course, is the astronomical price of a movie ticket — not everybody wants to or is able to shell out $15 for a day at the movies.
‘Moana’ Sailing Back Into Theaters with Special One-Day Sing-Along Version
Among the most difficult aspects of parenting is the matter of simply filling the hours in a day. Kids become bored after approximately twenty unstimulating minutes, so moms and dads have to constantly plan out diversions to keep their offspring occupied. Disney just did the parents of America a real solid, however. Animated movies have long been a go-to option for parents hoping to run out the clock, and they’ll be able to go back to Moana for seconds later this month, when the film re-enters theaters for a one-day sing-along engagement.
This ‘Rogue One’ Fan Letter Deeply Moved Diego Luna
You’d have to plug your ears to be totally unaware of the many calls for increased diversity that have been sounded in Hollywood over the past few years. Representation has become the name of the game — giving women, nonwhite viewers, or LGBTQ viewers someone that they can see themselves in onscreen. But this process has mostly played out in the forum of public discourse, explicated in articles or spoken about on daytime television or uncomfortably joked about at the Oscars. After long enough, a person can lose sight of the real-world ramifications of this sea change, and forget about why we’ve collectively resolved to work toward it in the first place.
Sylvester Stallone to Direct a Limbless Adam Driver in ‘Tough as They Come’
Just as Rocky Balboa inspired the world with his perseverance and courage in the face of overwhelming opposition, Sylvester Stallone inspired the people of America last month by not accepting President-elect Donald Trump’s offer to head the National Endowment for the Arts, stating that he’d rather devote his energies to moviemaking. In a gesture alien to Trump and his administration, Stallone has now followed through on his earlier words, bringing increased attention to the plight of soldiers reintegrating into society with a planned new feature. And he‘s going to start by cutting off Adam Driver’s arms and legs.
Things Get Steamy, and Deadly, in Extended ‘Fifty Shades Darker’ Trailer
It’s every woman’s fantasy: not the perfect man, but the man who is perfect in all ways except one, which can only be changed with the gentle touch of a lover. Anastasia Steele, the Dakota Johnson-played protagonist of the Fifty Shades of Grey franchise, shares this widespread fixer-upper fetish, and she makes as much clear in the new trailer for Fifty Shades Darker. In the film disappointingly not titled Fifty-One Shades of Grey, Ana accepts Christian back into her life under the condition that he cut it out with all the brooding angst that originally attracted her to him and got old pretty quickly. They let one another back into their lives (and beds, and red-lit sexual torture chambers), but tragedy may cut the honeymoon phase short.