The Shin Bet, the Israeli Secret Service, are charged with overseeing Israel’s war on terror. Their activity and membership are regarded as state secrets. Those who have headed the agency have never before spoken of the controversial events of the last few decades, that is, until now. Filmmaker Dror Moreh dared to do what others have not by sitting down with six former heads of the organization and discussing their actions during the war between Israel and Palestine in his latest documentary The Gatekeepers. What they have to say can be shocking at times, but their insights are equally mesmerizing.
Dwayne Johnson has been quite the busy bee lately. Just in the last year, he's starred in Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (with another possibly on the way), Snitch, Empire State, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, Pain & Gain, and Fast & Furious 6 (with another definitely on the way). However, he signs no signs of slowing down as production has already begun on his next project, an adaptation of Steve Moore's graphic novel Hercules: The Thracian Wars.
Just in case you weren't satisfied with last year's Liz & Dick, a TV movie that attempted to tell the story of the relationship between Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, the tale is getting a second chance with the upcoming BBC production Burton & Taylor.
Before seeing the first trailer for Bong Joon-ho's Snowpiercer a few weeks ago, I scarcely knew a thing about the project, but that quickly changed. Now you can color me excited to see how the project turns out.
It's really quite an amazing feat that Woody Allen has been able to remain as prolific a filmmaker as he has. Even at the age of 77, an age many would have been retired for several years upon reaching, he has never failed to deliver a film every year for over the past two decades. Granted, not all of them have been good. You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, Whatever Works, and To Rome with Love didn't exactly hit the mark of quality that we've come to expect from him, but he's also delivered Match Point, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, and Midnight in Paris, one of the best films of his career.
This story contains some of the pettiest studio squabbling I've even seen. By now, most people are aware of The Weinstein Company's film The Butler, due to be released next month. However, apparently Warner Bros. had a little bit of a problem with them using that title, as they claim to own the rights to it from a silent short that was made back in 1916 with the same name.
Like most people out there, I consider myself a fan of the Coen Brothers' work, at least for the most part. They've delivered some good to great films in the past, including Raising Arizona, Blood Simple, The Big Lebowski, Burn After Reading, and, of course, what many consider to be their greatest work, Fargo. There have only been a couple instances in which their films have disappointed me, those two being O Brother, Where Art Thou? and No Country For Old Men. I know, I know, there are some who consider it cinematic blasphemy to not like the latter, but the third act ruined what had been a pretty good film up to that point.
It's been several months since director Peter Jackson last delivered a production blog covering the process of making his epic trilogy of Hobbit films, but at long last, a new one has popped up. Last we saw, the gang was putting the finishing touches on the first film just in time for its premiere in New Zealand. For this new blog, we find the cast and crew together again to shoot what are called "pick-ups," which are shots that are done to make sure all of the existing footage fits together well.
Alright, this might not really qualify as news, but what it does qualify as is... pure awesomeness. I would hope that everyone here is familiar with the name Stanley Kubrick. He's only the greatest filmmaker to have ever lived (at least in my humble opinion). His work contains some of the most highly regarded and influential films ever made, including 2001: A Space Odyssey, Dr. Strangelove or: How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, A Clockwork Orange, Barry Lyndon, and Paths of Glory.
One of the main things that seems to have been bringing most recent Pixar films down is the simple fact that they're sequels. Cars 2 had a very mechanical feeling to it, but the original film wasn't that great in the first place, making the need for a sequel practically nonexistent. Then, of course, there was their most recent release, Monsters University, which while not a bad film, lacked the heart of the original, making it feel like a sub-standard Pixar effort.
