There are a few different ways you might have heard of Irish director John Michael McDonagh: as the director of Calvary, a film that will have its American debut in August; as the director of the excellent and underrated film The Guard, starring Brendan Gleeson and Don Cheadle; or as the brother of Martin McDonagh, the man behind In Bruges and Seven Psychopaths. Unlike his brother, John Michael McDonagh has not quite made a name for himself stateside, although anyone seeking out his films is sure to be pleasantly surprised. He's working on building a name for himself though, and perhaps Calvary or his next feature, War on Everyone, will provide his ticket to American fame.
While many in the geek community are getting excited for Pacific Rim 2 and the return to the bizarre world that Guillermo del Toro created for the first film, we can also start talking about the upcoming Pacific Rim animated series. According to del Toro himself, the TV show will create a bridge between the first film and its sequel.
Ever since his All The President's Men days - and probably before that - actor/director Robert Redford has been outspokenly political. It should therefore come as no surprise that his next acting project will involve politics, the media, and the complications that arise when the two combine.
Now that we have (sort of) put the whole Ant-Man/Edgar Wright controversy behind us, we can turn our attention to the very important task of further Ant-Man rumors. The latest little tidbit swirling about the film is that Marvel has begun casting a net for a young Hank Pym, otherwise portrayed in his modern-day incarnation by Michael Douglas. The casting call asks for a "young Michael Douglas photo double," but also does not call for an actor - it specifies the part as a Background or Extra role.
Joel Edgerton has begun to carve out an excellent niche for himself the mainstream cinematic world. He's had bang-up parts in Warrior, The Great Gatsby, and Zero Dark Thirty, and will soon be seen as the Pharaoh in Ridley Scott's Exodus: Gods and Kings. Now, the actor has returned to his native Australia for his most recent film, the tense cop thriller Felony.
Movies in which actors and actresses play actors and actresses are a favorite for both Hollywood and non-Hollywood filmmakers. Francois Truffaut, Alfred Hitchcock, and Billy Wilder all made at least one film that had their leads taking on parts that reflected a meta-awareness of the acting business. Director Oliver Assayas (Paris, je t'aime) joins that pantheon of greats with his new film Clouds of Sils Maria, and today we have the latest international trailer.
If you were crossing your fingers and toes for a Goodfellas/Casino reunion between Martin Scorsese and screenwriter Nicholas Pileggi on Pileggi's latest film Scarpa, I have bad news: Brad Furman (The Lincoln Lawyer) just got put at the helm of the upcoming mob movie.
Putting feelings about Woody Allen as a person aside, we have to admit that the man works hard and pretty consistently. No sooner does he have one film in the can than he turns around and starts making the next one; what's more, many of those films are pretty exceptional works of art and entertainment. Allen's already at work on his next next film, which stars Joaquin Phoenix and Emma Stone. But the next film the public will see will be Magic in the Moonlight, starring Stone and Allen-newcomer Colin Firth. We have a new batch of images from the film to whet your appetite.
Chances are that you've heard of German director Oliver Hirschbiegel from one of two places: either from his remarkable (and horribly depressing) story of Hitler's last days in the film Downfall, or his ill-conceived and lambasted biopic Diana. Departing once more from his foray into the British Royal Family, Hirschbiegel has now set his sights on returning to World War II, as he plans to direct the film Georg Elser, a true story about Adolf Hitler's would-be assassin.
Now that we Americans have concluded our quadrennial brush with moderate interest in soccer, we can go back to ignoring the sport that the rest of the world plays religiously and we just seem to feel secular about. At least, that's how I would feel, except that Sacha Baron Cohen's next film, Grimsby, is going to feature soccer front and center, and who doesn't get excited about a new Sacha Baron Cohen film?
