Josh Hutcherson is joining the cast of James Franco’s upcoming The Long Home. Hutcherson will play a young man in the 1940’s who goes to work for a Tennessee bootlegger, unaware that the man murdered his father. The script is based on William Gay’s novel of the same name. For more on the project, click here….
Short film round-up
Batz, a seven-minute animated short from Max Maleo and Aurélien Prédal, is a fabulously original tale of unlikely friendship. It follows two bats whose vastly different lifestyles collide in a fast-paced, action-packed adventure. While some of the visuals are a bit squirm-inducing – it is, after all, a short about bats – the whole thing…
Entertainment news round-up for Apr. 26
Cleveland Playhouse is the newest recipient of the 2015 Regional Theater Tony Award. The Ohio theater is heading into its 100th season as a champion of new works. The rest of the Tony nominations will be announced on April 28. For more on the Cleveland Playhouse and the Tonys, click here. Jay Z took to Twitter…
Entertainment news round-up for Apr. 24
Game of Thrones actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is set to star in Ric Roman Waugh’s upcoming prison thriller Shot Caller. Coster-Waldau will play a gangster who is forced to commit a major crime shortly after his release from prison. Waugh went undercover as a volunteer parole agent to research prison gangs while he was writing the film’s script. For more on the project,…
Short film round-up
Although The Girl & The Tree loses something in cultural transposition, the two-minute short from Moin Samadi touches on universal themes of love, loss, and the ravages of both war and time. Samadi’s animation calls to mind both comic books and traditional Japanese art – a combination that is both beautiful and unique. Regardless of its esoteric details,…
Short film round-up
Minka Farthing-Kohl’s seven-minute Stray Dogs is a very strange short about a very strange summer day. It follows “Frank,” whose mundane wait at the bus stop turns into something much more dramatic when a distraught woman asks to borrow his phone. Much of the film feels like a very obvious Tarantino knockoff, but there’s enough originality to keep…
Entertainment news round-up for Apr. 19
Penelope Cruz has joined the cast of Zoolander 2. Ben Stiller confirmed the news via Instagram and Twitter. Cruz joins Stiller and Owen Wilson in the film, which is set to open on February 12, 2016. For more on the project, click here. Josh Trank was a no-show at this weekend’s Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim, CA….
Entertainment news round-up for Apr. 15
Rumor has it that Patty Jenkins will step into the shoes vacated by Michelle MacClaren as director of the new Wonder Woman movie. MacClaren dropped out earlier this week due to creative differences with the studio. Production is still running on schedule, though, with the feature set to hit theaters in 2017. For more on the project,…
Entertainment news round-up for Apr. 10
Kingsman: The Secret Service actress Sofia Boutella has nabbed a lead role in Star Trek 3. Particulars of her character have not yet been released. Directed by Justin Lin from a script by Simon Pegg and Doug Jung, the film will premiere on July 8, 2016. For more on the project, click here. Eddie Redmayne is…
Short film round-up
Gwenn Germain’s two-and-a-half-minute Celles et Ceux des Cimes et Cieux is beautiful but empty. Though its fantastical tale of a boy who literally falls into a world of magic and adventure is lushly animated, it feels choppy and rushed, moving through the story so quickly that it’s quite difficult for us to keep up. In fact, the whole…
Entertainment news round-up for Apr. 12
Angela Lansbury took home her first Olivier Award for her supporting performance in the recent revival of Blythe Spirit. The prize for best new musical went to Sunny Afternoon, the show about rock band The Kinks, and the Young Vic’s A View from the Bridge won best play revival. For more from the Olivier Awards, click here. Paul Feig…
Short film round-up
Border, a one-minute short from animation studio plan78, is a brief but brilliant commentary on the absurdity of the lines people draw between each other. Two little critters, one blue and one yellow, are on either side of one such line, though each has his own ideas about exactly what the line means. It’s a sweet and silly little…
Entertainment news round-up for Apr. 5
Winnie the Pooh will be the latest Disney property to undergo a live-action transformation. The Mouse House is developing a new film starring the honey-loving bear and friends. The story will follow an adult Christopher Robin. For more information on the project, click here. HBO has released the trailer for its Bessie Smith biopic, starring Queen Latifah….
Short film round-up
Based on a short story by Ádám Bodor, Hearth (Otthon), a five-minute short from director Bálint Gelley, is a typhoon of surreal images, death, and rebirth. It follows a man who is trying to save a young girl and three old women from drowning after an unexplained natural disaster. The short is visually stunning – despite its muted, watercolor-like…
Short film round-up
In Ngendo Mukii’s six-minute short Yellow Fever, the filmmaker uses real-life interviews, animation, and striking images of the human body to explore issues of race, identity, and self-image. Her main topic is the use of skin-lightening creams by African women. The short deals with the issue of feeling uncomfortable in one’s own skin – literally – and…
Short film round-up
Andre Hyland’s seven-minute Funnel is a neat little slice-of-life short about a man on a quest to fix his broken-down car. We hear the story through his side of a phone conversation as he treks to a gas station and back to his car. The short’s humor is based on its utter mundanity, though it’s…
Entertainment news round-up for Apr. 3
Disney’s Tangled is coming to the stage – though not the stage you’re probably thinking about. The show will be performed on the Disney Magic cruise ship later this year. Alan Menken and lyricist Glenn Slater have written three new songs for the musical. For more on the show, click here. The Muppets may be…
Short film round-up
Benjamin Arcand’s five-and-a-half-minute Wackatdooo feels like an elaborate The Aristocats throwback with a sinister twist. It centers on an anthropomorphic, music- and wine-loving cat whose passion for raucous partying takes its toll – though it never gets him down for long. The silent short’s score is swell, and the animation is a fun throwback to the classics. Check it out…
Entertainment news round-up for March 29
Star Trek 3 cowriter and star Simon Pegg had a few words to say about the third installment in the film series. “I think we just want to take it forward with the spirit of the TV show,” Pegg said. “And it’s a story about frontierism and adventure and optimism and fun, and that’s where we want to take…
Short film round-up
Leonard in Slow Motion, an eight-minute film from director Peter Livolsi, is a lovely example of what a short film should be. It follows a man whose life is lived entirely in slo-mo and his struggles with love, labor, and legerity. It’s simple but beautifully executed. Watch it here. Seven-minute La Petite Maison, from director Isaac Holland,…
Entertainment news round-up for March 27
Although the official Cannes lineup won’t be released for another three weeks, a few selections have already been unveiled. Pixar’s Inside Out will premiere at the festival, along with Woody Allen’s Irrational Man, which – in keeping with Allen’s no-awards policy – will probably not be in the running for any prizes. For more on Cannes, click…
Entertainment news round-up for Jan. 22
Western star Roy Rogers is headed to Broadway, and Alan Menken is coming along for the ride. Menken, of Aladdin and The Little Mermaid fame, will pen some new tunes for Happy Trails, a new biographical musical about the King of the Cowboys. The show is slated for a 2016 premiere. For more on the musical, click here. Robert Redford kicked…
2015 Academy Awards nominations causes controversy
This year’s Academy Award nominations came with a few surprises – and, perhaps more importantly, a few notable snubs.
Short film round-up: The Current short films, part 2
Over the next two weeks, we’ll be taking a look at the new short film series from The Current. According to their website, “The Current is 10 attempts at alternative journalistic modes of communication, and 10 never before seen explorations of the news media. A creative supplement in the media landscape. It is entirely free…
Short film round-up: The Current films, part 1
Over the next two weeks, we’ll be taking a look at the new short film series from The Current. According to their website, “The Current is 10 attempts at alternative journalistic modes of communication, and 10 never before seen explorations of the news media. A creative supplement in the media landscape. It is entirely free…
Entertainment news round-up for Jan. 15: Oscar Nominations
This year’s Oscar nominations brought a few surprises. Notable snubs include Selma, which was nominated only in the Best Picture category, and A Most Violent Year, which was heavily lauded by the National Board of Review but got no love from the Academy. Similarly ignored was The Lego Movie. As for pleasant surprises, the inclusion of Marion Cotillard (Two Days,…
