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Saturday Night Live Uses This Week’s Cold Open To Pay Tribute To Kyiv With A Ukrainian Chorus NBC By Deshawn “DeLa Doll” Thomas/Feb. 27, 2022 2:13 pm EST Last night’s episode of “Saturday Night Live” directly addressed two rather serious topics: the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, and the somewhat controversial return of comedian John Mulaney as a host. The episode began by thoughtfully using the show’s cold open to pay a moving tribute to Ukraine....

Scream Almost Featured Cameos From Rian Johnson And Hayden Panettiere Dimension Films By Joshua Meyer/Jan. 21, 2022 9:36 am EST The new “Scream” movie, in theaters now, is the fifth installment in the long-running slasher film franchise. Yet it continues the meta gag of an in-universe series of movies called “Stab,” based on the events of “Scream,” and now the fictional “Stab” series has outpaced the “Scream” series. It’s all the way up to “Stab 8” — which, like the sequel colloquially known as “Scream 5,” drops the numbering in favor of having the same clean title as the first film....

Shang-Chi VFX Team On Animating Dragons And Why Movies Aren’t As Colorful Anymore [Interview] Marvel Studios By Jeremy Mathai/Jan. 25, 2022 1:54 pm EST “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” almost feels like several movies smashed into one, a statement that reflects the complicated comic book history of the character just as much as it accurately portrays the sheer scope and scale of the visual effects on display. At any given point in the film, viewers can expect to see sweeping battlefield vistas in the epic prologue that kicks off the action, a breathtaking scaffold fight that just might stand out as one of Marvel’s most effective and dynamic hand-to-hand fight sequences, fantastical creatures spanning from dragons to, well, the one and only Morris, and the stunning effects of the legendary Rings themselves....

Shazam! Fury Of The Gods Release Date Changed To Escape The Wrath Of Avatar 2 Warner Bros. By Ryan Scott/April 27, 2022 7:55 pm EST It seems the gods, aka the decision-makers at Warner Bros., have decided it is not wise for “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” to go directly up against James Cameron’s “Avatar 2,” aka “Avatar: The Way of Water.” That being the case, the studio has provided at least a little bit of cushion between these two blockbusters sequels, though they will still largely be in one another’s way come December....

Spike Lee’s Malcolm X Was Decades In The Making Warner Bros. By Witney Seibold/March 22, 2022 6:06 pm EST The 1997 book “Monster: Living Off the Big Screen” by John Gregory Dunne was required reading in film school for the better part of a decade. Dunne is the screenwriter behind “The Panic in Needle Park,” the 1976 version of “A Star is Born,” and the largely forgotten 1996 romance “Up Close & Personal,” about which “Monster” was written....

The Godfather Connection You Missed In Breaking Bad AMC By Caroline Madden/Jan. 6, 2022 10:56 am EST Francis Ford Coppola’s mafia epic “The Godfather” is canonically regarded as one of the greatest films of all time. Due to its legendary status, it has been parodied, referenced, and homaged in popular culture throughout the past fifty years since its release. Vince Gilligan’s hit AMC drama “Breaking Bad” is just one of the many works that include an allusion to the renowned gangster saga....

Why Das Boot’s Author Was Critical Of Its On-Screen Adaptation Columbia Pictures By Witney Seibold/April 15, 2022 2:39 pm EST Wolfgang Petersen’s “Das Boot,” based on the 1973 book by Lothar-Günther Buchheim, was an enormous hit when it was released in Germany in 1981. Taking place on the real-life U-96 submarine as it patrolled the oceans during the Battle of the Atlantic in the 1940s, “Das Boot” is a realistic, tense, and action-packed look at the lives of German soldiers as they struggled to survive — both the dangers and the utter tedium — in an extreme environment....

Yellowjackets Takes Flight Of The Bumblebee Literally – And It’s Chaos Showtime By BJ Colangelo/Jan. 3, 2022 11:44 am EST Everyone who told me that my big “Yellowjackets” prediction from last week was impossible to come true should Venmo me five bucks for doubting me, because mama was right yet again! I don’t expect all of my unhinged theories to come to fruition, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say I go on an absolute power trip with the same level of energy as Shauna’s mutually assured destruction scene from “Blood Hive” every time one of my predictions comes true....

‘Sinister’ Features Modern Horror’s Most Effective Jump Scare By Meagan Navarro/Oct. 2, 2019 9:00 am EST (Welcome to Scariest Scene Ever, a column dedicated to the most pulse-pounding moments in horror. In this edition: Sinister delivered the biggest jolt in modern horror with one doozy of a jump scare.)Director Scott Derrickson has promised that the upcoming sequel Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will be the first scary MCU movie....

18% Of Fans Said This Netflix Original Show Was Canceled Way Too Soon Netflix By Danielle Ryan/Feb. 14, 2022 11:13 am EST (Welcome to Survey Says, a feature where we conduct a movie-related survey for a random group of people and explain why they’re completely right, completely wrong, or somewhere in-between.) Hey, all you groovy guys, gals, and binary-busting babes, it’s time to take a look at another small-sample survey to see what folks think about pop culture....

Ben Affleck Gave Up The Batman Cowl Because Of A ‘Principal Influence’: Matt Damon Warner Bros. By BJ Colangelo/Jan. 11, 2022 10:16 pm EST Call it a hot take if you must, but with the exception of Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart, there’s no other male friendship in Hollywood quite like Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. The duo met as kids, living two blocks away from each other all throughout their childhood....

Better Luck Tomorrow Aimed Beyond ‘Positive’ Asian-American Portrayals Paramount By Lyvie Scott/May 17, 2022 11:10 am EST In 2002, “Fast & Furious” filmmaker Justin Lin made his Sundance debut with the bombastic “Better Luck Tomorrow.” The film takes loose inspiration from the Southern California-set “Honor Roll Murder” of the early ’90s, following the exploits of an Asian-American gang who juggle their life of crime with debate team practice and SAT prep....

Cha Cha Real Smooth Trailer: Dakota Johnson Stars In Cooper Raiff’s Rom-Com Sundance Darling Apple TV+ By Jeremy Mathai/May 12, 2022 11:24 am EST You look up one day and realize that college is over, you’ve settled for a truly bad job, and you’re going nowhere fast. Who among us can’t relate to that exact sort of young adult ennui! Writer, director, and actor Cooper Raiff takes direct aim at this profound sense of listlessness with “Cha Cha Real Smooth,” fresh off of receiving critical acclaim with his feature debut “Shithouse” in 2020....

DMZ Showrunner Roberto Patino Has Built A New Kind Of Dystopia [Interview] HBO Max By Jacob Hall/March 17, 2022 2:10 pm EST When the comic series “DMZ” arrived nearly 20 years ago, it felt like a work of science fiction. But in 2022, its basic premise — a second American civil war has divided the nation, with warring armies stalling out on either side of Manhattan — feels unsettling. Like something that could actually happen....

Doctor Strange 2: America Chavez Actress Shares The MCU Advice Elizabeth Olsen Gave Her Hasbro / Disney By Joshua Meyer/Feb. 24, 2022 9:29 pm EST Moviegoers and Marvelites are about to meet America Chavez in “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” and we’ve already seen Strange himself (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Wong (Benedict Wong) meeting her in one promo image. However, that image, the recent Super Bowl trailer for “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” and other trailers have been rather coy about showing her face, preferring instead to let us see the star on the back of her denim jacket....

What About the Blu-ray? Sony Pictures For those holding out for the physical release, we’ve got that covered as well. Sony has also revealed that the movie will arrive on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD on April 12, 2022. That is a little longer than we’re accustomed to waiting these days but when you’re movie is breaking box office records, there’s no reason to rush it. We previously got a glimpse of Best Buy’s exclusive Steelbook release, so we know it’s coming along with the other options that will be more widely available....

“Maybe You Should Start Investigating Yourself” Summit Entertainment / Team Todd Non-linear storytelling and a fascination with time have become staples of Nolan’s filmography, but with “Memento,” they weren’t just gimmicks. They were an attempt to situate the audience in Leonard’s perspective so that we could feel as he feels and maybe, by the end, see ourselves in him. Nolan elaborated further on this and on how his definition of noir applies to “Memento,” which is based on the short story, “Memento Mori,” by his brother Jonathan Nolan....

Why it’s tired Prime Video Need we say any more? The original Aquaman joke never evoked side-splitting laughter, as it’s pretty childish. This doesn’t magically change for The Deep. Sure, he has never been the most complex or layered character, but honing in on his perversion toward fish seems very dumb. Besides, he’s a pervert in other ways, which we’ll discuss shortly. “The Boys” isn’t exactly the most highbrow show in the world — hell, its first season 3 episode involved a brief moment where a shrinking superhero attempted to climb into a main character’s butt....

Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw Scores Nanny Director Nikyatu Jusu’s Next Film Sundance Institute By Jeremy Mathai/Feb. 1, 2022 2:15 pm EST For movie fans who make an effort to go out of their way and journey off the beaten path in order to discover some of the most exciting filmmaking talent on the rise, today’s the day for you. Earlier, we brought you news about French filmmaker Coralie Fargeat’s (2017’s “Revenge”) newest upcoming film, which is titled “The Substance” and will likely become a must-watch once it makes its way to theaters in the years ahead....

Consider the real-world context MGM I’m a big Anderson fan, but as I’ve mentioned many times here on /Film, I also happen to live in Tokyo (where it’s not wall-to-wall white kids, but rather wall-to-wall Japanese folks.) “Licorice Pizza” hasn’t opened in Japan yet, so the cinephile and Japanophile in me can only sit by and watch with trepidation as this controversy plays out in the media. All I have to go on is what I’ve heard from stateside sources, including The Hollywood Reporter’s detailed breakdown of the film’s “Japanese wife scenes....