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Hawkeye Director Rhys Thomas Explains How SNL Prepared Him For Marvel Studios And More [Interview] Marvel Studios By Ethan Anderton/Nov. 23, 2021 9:55 am EST “Hawkeye” is nearly upon us, with the first two episodes of the Marvel Studios series arriving on Disney+ on November 24 this week. Before the series premieres, we spoke with director Rhys Thomas (“Documentary Now!”) about stepping into the Marvel Cinematic Universe with experience from “Saturday Night Live” helping him....

How Star Wars: Visions Embraces And Reinvents The Franchise’s Long-Held Values [Interview] Lucasfilm Ltd. By Anya Stanley/Sept. 21, 2021 4:08 pm EST When “Star Wars: A New Hope” released in 1977, audiences were blown away by the original adventure tale. And it is original, in as much as any story idea is. But the American space opera has always had the cinema of Akira Kurosawa coursing through its veins. In crafting his epic, George Lucas leaned heavily on Kurosawa’s 1958 samurai picture “The Hidden Fortress,” down to mimicked lensing and particular shots....

Idris Elba Didn’t Want To Replace Will Smith’s Deadshot In ‘The Suicide Squad’ By Shania Russell/Aug. 9, 2021 8:16 am EST The hype surrounding James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad has only grown since its release. Premiering both in theaters and on HBO Max gave the film a massive audience, especially since fans wanted to get in on the action before spoilers emerged. And despite not achieving the great highs of its projected theater numbers, The Suicide Squad Squad still came out on top this weekend....

James McAvoy Would Love To Play A Young Captain Picard By Danielle Ryan/Sept. 28, 2021 12:36 pm EST In an interview with Collider to promote his work in the “Sandman” Audible audio drama, actor James McAvoy revealed that while he has zero interest in playing Professor Charles Xavier ever again, he would love to take on another famous Patrick Stewart character: Captain Jean-Luc Picard from “Star Trek: The Next Generation.”...

Joaquin Phoenix Explains Why He Passed On ‘Doctor Strange’ And Other Blockbusters By Ethan Anderton/Sept. 3, 2015 4:00 pm EST Even though Marvel fans are mostly pleased with the casting of Benedict Cumberbatch as the titular Sorcerer Supreme in the forthcoming Phase Three film Doctor Strange, there was almost another actor in the role who might have been a somewhat more interesting addition to the Marvel cinematic universe. We know that Joaquin Phoenix was not just courted for the lead role in Doctor Strange, but he was even said to be in final talks for the Marvel Studios production....

Marvel Studios Is No Longer Making Actors Sign Big Multi-Movie Contracts By Jeremy Mathai/July 9, 2021 7:25 am EST Once upon a time, believe it or not, the superhero movie landscape was in a state where the idea of committing oneself to a multi-picture contract to star in them was something of a turn-off to many actors. Obviously, others didn’t hesitate to jump at the chance and that’s a major reason why the Marvel Cinematic Universe has grown into an unstoppable juggernaut today....

Blackstar CBS/Filmation Before “He-Man and the Masters of the Universe” premiered in 1983, Filmation did what could be considered a dry-run of the concept with “Blackstar” in 1981. Native American astronaut John Blackstar’s spaceship was swept into a black hole to strand him in an “ancient alien” universe, where he became a bare-chested, sword-wielding defender of the Dungeons & Dragons-style inhabitants of the planet Sagar. Netflix’s “Masters of the Universe: Revelation” has already incorporated a number of Filmation’s early and alternate versions of He-Man into canon, including Vikor, Wun-Dar, He-Ro, and King Grayskull....

Red Notice Is On Target To Be Netflix’s All-Time No. 1 Movie, But What Does That Even Mean? Netflix By Shania Russell/Nov. 24, 2021 3:34 pm EST Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds, Gal Gadot and Cleopatra’s Eggs all star in the action-thriller that’s been topping the Netflix charts for over a week. “Red Notice” has spent the week duking it out with other Netflix Top 10 entries, and is now on track to become Netflix’s most popular movie yet … according to Netflix (via Variety)....

Revisiting ‘Teen Beach Movie,’ Disney’s Weird And Wonderful Musical About Musicals By Rafael Motamayor/April 13, 2021 8:00 am EST (Welcome to Out of the Disney Vault, where we explore the unsung gems and forgotten disasters currently streaming on Disney+.)The Disney Channel has made over 100 movies since the ’80s, but when the network entered the new millennium, it started focusing on two kinds of stories. There were wacky genre comedies with high concepts like Luck of the Irish....

Superhero Bits: Amy Poehler Wants A Specific Marvel Role, ‘Batman: Reptilian’ Comic Is Coming & More By Ethan Anderton/March 12, 2021 6:00 pm EST How did an artist turn an electric razor into War Machine? What is this new Batman: Reptilian comic all about? What kind of role does Amy Poehler want in a Marvel movie? Was there ever a discussion about Doctor Strange appearing in WandaVision? Could Gwyneth Paltrow ever come back to the MCU?...

Superhero Bits: Spider-Man Is Finally Coming To Marvel’s Avengers, Miss Minutes Returns & More Marvel By Ryan Scott/Nov. 5, 2021 5:23 pm EST (Superhero Bits is a collection of stories, updates, and videos about anything and everything inspired by the comics of Marvel, DC, and more. For comic book movies, TV shows, merchandise, events, and whatever catches our eye, this is the place to find anything that falls through the cracks....

The Daily Stream: Whether You Watch The Olympics Or Not, ‘Ikiru’ Is Essential Viewing By Joshua Meyer/July 24, 2021 7:57 am EST (Welcome to The Daily Stream, an ongoing series in which the /Film team shares what they’ve been watching, why it’s worth checking out, and where you can stream it.)The Movie: IkiruWhere You Can Stream It: The Criterion ChannelThe Pitch: Hit with a terminal illness, a widower stuck in a bureaucrat’s job rediscovers what it means to live....

The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent: Release Date, Cast, And More SpectreVision By Joshua Meyer/Oct. 28, 2021 12:29 pm EST (Welcome to …And More, our no-frills, zero B.S. guide to when and where you can watch upcoming movies and shows, and everything else you could possibly stand to know.) Nicolas Cage, founder and sole known member of the Nouveau Shamanic acting school, has been burdened throughout his career not only by bees (see: “The Wicker Man”) and truffle hog kidnappers (see: “Pig”) but also by massive talent....

Topher Grace Was Supposed To Appear In ‘Ocean’s 13’, But ‘Spider-Man 3’ Ruined It By Ethan Anderton/Aug. 8, 2018 1:30 pm EST The cast of the Ocean’s 11 franchise is quite the star-studded ensemble. But on top of the core members of the heist team led by George Clooney, the franchise has also featured some cameos by familiar faces, and one of them nearly appeared in all three of the films from director Steven Soderbergh....

Waiting for a Happy Ending Marvel Studios Brubaker elaborated further on how the story took on a life of its own this year, even after he stopped speaking out, thanks in part to “Black Widow” star Scarlett Johansson’s now-settled lawsuit against Disney. He said: “When I was on Kevin’s podcast, I didn’t intend to talk about it as much as I did. If you listen to the way I’m talking about it [in the podcast], I’m not yelling or upset....

You Can Now Rent Out A Cinemark Theater For A Private Watch Party By Chris Evangelista/Aug. 19, 2020 5:30 pm EST If you’re itching to return to movie theaters but understandably nervous about sharing space with strangers right now, Cinemark wants to help. The theater chain is launching something called a Private Watch Party, in which patrons can rent out a participating Cinemark Theatre for around $99-$175 plus applicable taxes & online fees....

‘American Gladiators’ Is Getting A ‘30 For 30’ Documentary From ESPN By Ethan Anderton/April 12, 2021 1:00 pm EST ESPN has released some of the best sports documentaries out there with their ongoing 30 for 30 series. Last year, they tackled Bruce Lee with Be Water, the home run battle between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa in Long Gone Summer, and the career and controversy stirred up by cyclist Lance Armstrong in Lance....

By Hoai-Tran Bui/May 20, 2021 4:30 pm EST Everybody’s Talking About Jamie Which is a shame for Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, which stars a talented cast including “breakout discovery” Max Harwood as Jamie New, alongside Sarah Lancashire, Lauren Patel, Shobna Gulati, Ralph Ineson, Adeel Akhtar, Samuel Bottomley, with Sharon Horgan and Richard E. Grant. The film is directed by Jonathan Butterell, who directed the stage production, and hails from New Regency, Film4, and Warp Films....

‘Lily Topples The World’ Review: A Beautiful Movie About The World’s Greatest Dominos Artist [SXSW 2021] By Kalyn Corrigan/March 19, 2021 8:00 am EST It’s hard to think of an image from this year’s SXSW film festival more aggressively satisfying than that of 20-year-old Lily Hevesh toppling a towering tier of stacked dominos, the lovely crash echoing throughout every quiet pocket of the room. Jeremy Workman’s wholly endearing documentary about the world famous domino artist, Lily Topples the World, is both an undeniable crowdpleaser and an important spotlight cast on an underrepresented and entirely deserving protagonist....

‘Malignant’ Trailer: James Wan Returns To Directing Horror, And We’re Excited By Chris Evangelista/July 20, 2021 9:37 am EST James Wan took a break from directing horror for a little while, but he’s back in a big way with Malignant. This dark, moody, and supposedly very violent fright flick follows a woman who keeps having visions of gruesome murders. At first, she thinks it’s all in her head, but she quickly discovers that the murders are real – and the killer is getting closer....