Movie Reviews and Previews TIFF 2016: The Tiffening TIFF kicks off this week, and I’ll be filing reviews along with Joanna and Kathleen. It’s a little bit of a weird year, The Birth of a Nation and Nate Parker dominating so much of the pre-festival conversation, but Venice got underway last week, and Telluride went By Sarah • Sep 06, 2016 01:51 pm
Amazingness Bridget by Emma: a solid start Bridget Jones’s Baby premiered in London this weekend. So far, the reviews have been pretty decent with several top critics giving it a solid recommendation score, including Catherine Bray at Variety who writes that “Bridget Jones’s Baby is not a comedy for the ages, but it’s interesting By Lainey • Sep 06, 2016 01:10 pm
Movie Reviews and Previews Kit & Rose are still together Or, as I call them, Jon and Gidget … because I can never remember that character’s name! Here are Kit Harington and Rose Leslie out for a walk in New York the other day holding hands. He’s there shooting The Life And Death Of John F Donovan, Xavier Dolan’ By Lainey • Sep 06, 2016 11:54 am
Movie Reviews and Previews Gabrielle Union stands up On Friday, the LA Times released an op-ed written by Gabrielle Union. Its headline: 'Birth of a Nation' actress Gabrielle Union: I cannot take Nate Parker rape allegations lightly. When I first saw this headline, I literally gasped out loud. What follows the headline is a stirring, By Kathleen • Sep 06, 2016 11:35 am
Movie Reviews and Previews Intro for September 6, 2016 Dear Gossips, Mel Gibson’s Hacksaw Ridge received a 10 minute standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival this weekend. Some are calling the film Mel’s “act of atonement”. As you know, Mel’s been accused of being several kinds of “-ists”. And an “-er” too. So here’s By Lainey • Sep 06, 2016 10:02 am
Movie Reviews and Previews Tika Sumpter and Parker Sawyers in Southside With You A fictionalization of Barack and Michelle Obama’s first date, Southside With You is a film that straddles several lines. It’s part biopic, part romance, part fan fiction, and it mostly navigates those boundaries with ease, though there’s such a staged quality to it you can’t help By Sarah • Sep 02, 2016 01:26 pm
Media Manipulation Questions for Leo? Leonardo DiCaprio in LA with his Summer ’16 bonafide, Nina Agdal, earlier this week. And a shot of them side by side. And he’s not covering his face. Please let’s talk about this and not the potential controversy around his foundation and the embezzlement scam? Since The Hollywood By Lainey • Sep 02, 2016 01:05 pm
Movie Reviews and Previews Robert De Niro and Edgar Ramirez in Hands of Stone Knowing absolutely nothing about boxer Roberto Duran, I was intrigued going into his biopic, Hands of Stone. Biopics often work better the less you know about the subject—dramatic license is less distracting—but then, if the biopic is too broad and messy, you can feel even more lost because By Sarah • Sep 02, 2016 12:42 pm
Movie Reviews and Previews Amy’s double Venice Sometimes we are a little maybe on Amy Adams here. Duana doesn’t get it. I have real affection for her after interviewing her at the Man Of Steel junket. Joanna has always been pulling for her. Maybe this year it’s Amy’s time. Amy is in Venice with By Lainey • Sep 02, 2016 11:50 am
Dumbass Mark Ruffalo can be both I don’t know if you know this, but the internet can be frustrating. No, but seriously. That whole expression ‘this is why we can’t have nice things’ is always on my mind. When Beyoncé drops LEMONADE, there are people who, instead of appreciating it, say “Yeah but white By Duana • Sep 02, 2016 11:16 am
Style La La Land opens Venice To great reviews. A couple of roundups of the critical responses here and here. Even before its premiere, La La Land was expected to be an Oscar contender. It was originally supposed to open this past July. They then pushed it back to December which means that already back in By Lainey • Sep 01, 2016 02:44 pm
Movie Reviews and Previews Tom Hiddleston’s Bond dream isn’t dead yet Earlier this week UK paper The Sun published a list of actors supposedly up for consideration as the next James Bond which includes the usual suspects—Idris Elba and Tom Hiddleston—and also people like Michael Fassbender and Luke Evans. The Sun’s list reads like a cross between Tumblr By Sarah • Sep 01, 2016 10:33 am
Movie Reviews and Previews Watching Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander fall in love Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander will walk their first red carpet together tomorrow at the worldwide premiere of The Light Between Oceans at the Venice Film Festival (the premiere of Steve Jobs at NYFF last October does not necessarily count). It's interesting too, because this is the movie By Joanna • Aug 31, 2016 11:49 am
Movie Reviews and Previews Meryl Streep in Florence Foster Jenkins The catch-up continues with Meryl Streep’s latest Oscar vehicle, Florence Foster Jenkins. I want to sh*t on this movie for being too saccharine and unevenly balanced between its two leads, but this movie is explicitly about NOT sh*itting on people who are trying really hard, even By Sarah • Aug 31, 2016 10:55 am
Movie Reviews and Previews Miles Teller and Jonah Hill in War Dogs Playing a little catch up as we close out August, starting with Todd Phillips’ latest bro-nightmare movie, War Dogs. For a director known for comedies—namely The Hangover trilogy, but also Road Trip, Old School, and Due Date, among others—Phillips doesn’t seem to like directing comedies. He By Sarah • Aug 31, 2016 09:56 am
Movie Reviews and Previews The Get Down I feel like I should apologize for not getting to The Get Down sooner. But now that I’m here, I’m looking around what feels like a mostly empty room and wondering where everyone else is. Have you watched The Get Down? No? Why not? Maybe it doesn’t By Sarah • Aug 30, 2016 11:08 am
