Zack Sharf Digital News Director Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” has already received a handful of strong first reactions, but now comes a huge claim from “Taxi Driver” writer and “The Card Counter” director Paul Schrader. The Oscar nominee attended the New York premiere of Nolan’s atom bomb epic and took to social media afterwards to hail it as “the best, most important film of this century.” “If you see one film in cinemas this year it should be ‘Oppenheimer,'” Schrader added in a Facebook post shared widely across social media. “I’m not a Nolan groupie but this one blows the door off the hinges.” “Oppenheimer,” based on the 2005 book “American Prometheus” by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin, tracks the creation of the atomic bomb during World War II through the eyes of theoretical physicist and Manhattan Project leader J. Robert Oppenheimer. Cillian Murphy stars in the lead role. The film also features Matt Damon as Manhattan Project director Gen. Leslie Groves Jr. and Robert Downey Jr. as Lewis Strauss, a founding commissioner of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. Emily Blunt, Florence Pugh and Benny Safdie also star.
Bob Dylan Gave Notes on Timothée Chalamet’s Bob Dylan Movie: He ‘Personally Annotated’ the Script and ‘Has Been So Supportive’
05.07.2023 - 22:55 / variety.com
Zack Sharf Digital News Director Timothée Chalamet’s Bob Dylan movie, “A Complete Unknown,” is supposed to kick off filming in August, but don’t call it a Bob Dylan biopic. During a recent appearance on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast (via IndieWire), the film’s director, James Mangold, said “A Complete Unknown” is “not really a Bob Dylan biopic” but a movie about “a very specific moment” in the 1960s folk scene of New York City. The film’s specificity is one reason the real Bob Dylan “has been so supportive of us making it,” the filmmaker reasoned. “The best true-life movies are never cradle to grave but they’re about a very specific moment,” Mangold said. “In this case, it might be presumptuous to call it Altman-esque, but it’s a kind of ensemble piece about this moment in time, the early ’60s in New York, and this 17-year-old kid with $16 in his pockets hitchhikes his way to New York to meet Woody Guthrie who is in the hospital and is dying of a nerve disease. He sings Woody a song that he wrote for him and befriends Pete Seeger, who is like a son to Woody, and Pete sets him up with gigs at local clubs and there you meet Joan Baez and all these other people who are part of this world.”
Mangold described the Bob Dylan in his movie as “a wanderer who comes in from Minnesota with a fresh name and a fresh outlook on life.” His arrival ignites an “upheaval in the folk community and what they thought was proper folk and illicit folk.” “It all has tremendous relevance even now because of the way we are all so tribalized with rules about what our music should be, about what our rules are, how we speak, how we express ourselves,” Mangold added. “And Bob from the beginning has always been someone who is always pressing
Judith James, ‘Quiz Show’ and ‘Mad Dog Time’ Producer, Dies at 86
McKinley Franklin editor Judith James, producer of “Quiz Show” and “Mad Dog Time” and Richard Dreyfuss’ longtime collaborator, died in Santa Barbara after a bout with cancer. She was 86. James’ friend, Alex. B Block, confirmed the news to Variety. James’ was an accomplished producer who worked alongside Dreyfuss on projects including “Funny, You Don’t Look 200: A Constitutional Vaudeville,” “Prisoner of Honor” and “The Lightkeepers.” “From the minute I met Judy James at the Mark Taper Forum, I knew I had found someone who had the same passion for storytelling that I did,” Dreyfuss said in a statement. “In all the years we were producing partners, we were of like mind, not gender, and we always found a way to agree and wouldn’t have done anything without each other’s approval. She was a wonderful woman and a great friend.”
Patrick Wilson Says ‘Watchmen’ Was ‘Ahead of the Curve’: It Was ‘So Dark’ and Allowed ‘The Avengers’ to ‘Go So Light’
Zack Sharf Digital News Director Patrick Wilson said in an interview on the “Reelblend” podcast that Zack Snyder’s “Watchmen” adaptation helped pave the way for “The Avengers” and the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe to take a much lighter approach to the comic book genre. Snyder’s dark and operatic take on Alan Moore’s graphic novel proved divisive, as the film didn’t even make it past $200 million at the worldwide box office. Wilson revealed “Watchmen” is “the only movie of mine that I have watched front to back since a premiere,” adding, ‘That movie is awesome.” “I just wanted to look at it as an older guy, as a filmmaker,” Wilson added. “I knew Zack was ahead of the curve. It’s weird to say that audiences weren’t ready for it. But you need a movie like that. You need movies to go so dark that then ‘Avengers’ can go so light. I do believe in that…I’d love to do that movie now. It would be so awesome to just do it now.”
Timothée Chalamet Was Offered ‘Wonka’ Role Based On YouTube Videos Of His High School Musical Performances
Timothée Chalamet was born to play Willy Wonka.
‘Vanderpump Rules’ Alum Jax Taylor Says Tom Sandoval Has ‘A Few Screws Loose’
Jax Taylor still has questions about what went through Tom Sandoval‘s mind when he had an affair with Raquel Leviss — and he thinks there may be more to the story.
Robert Downey Jr. Was ‘100%’ Concerned Playing Iron Man for 11 Years Might Affect Acting Skills: ‘Let’s Work Those Other Muscles’
Zack Sharf Digital News Director Robert Downey Jr. admitted in a recent interview with The New York Times Magazine that he was concerned his acting chops might be at risk while playing Iron Man/Tony Stark for 11 years in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The actor debuted as the superhero in 2008’s “Iron Man” and was killed off in 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame,” appearing in a total of nine Marvel movies. “You start to wonder if a muscle you have hasn’t atrophied,” Downey Jr. said about the risks of playing the same character for over a decade. When asked if he had any concerns about what effect playing Iron Man for 11 years might have on his acting, Downey Jr. replied: “Yes. 100%, and I knew there was a point where Christopher Nolan was endorsing, let’s work those other muscles, but let’s do it while rendering you devoid of your usual go-to things.”
Robert Downey Jr. Calls ‘Dolittle’ and ‘Shaggy Dog’ the ‘Most Important Films’ He’s Done in the Last 25 Years,’ Says ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ Is ‘Content’
Zack Sharf Digital News Director When thinking of the most important movie in Robert Downey Jr.’s filmography over the last 25 years, one might naturally assume the answer is “Iron Man,” the 2008 superhero tentpole that launched the Marvel Cinematic Universe and changed the blockbuster landscape in Hollywood. But that’s not the movie Downey Jr. himself would pick. In a new interview with The New York Times Magazine, the Oscar nominee cited 2006’s “The Shaggy Dog” and 2020’s infamous “Dolittle” flop as his most important titles. “I finished the Marvel contract and then hastily went into what had all the promise of being another big, fun, well-executed potential franchise in ‘Dolittle,'” Downey Jr. said. “I had some reservations. Me and my team seemed a little too excited about the deal and not quite excited enough about the merits of the execution. But at that point I was bulletproof. I was the guru of all genre movies. Honestly, the two most important films I’ve done in the last 25 years are ‘The Shaggy Dog,’ because that was the film that got Disney saying they would insure me. Then the second most important film was ‘Doolittle,’ because ‘Dolittle’ was a two-and-a-half-year wound of squandered opportunity.”
One Direction's First & Most Recent Red Carpet Pics - See How Much the Boy Band Has Grown Up Over the Years!
The members of One Direction have grown up in front of our eyes.
‘A Complete Unknown’: James Mangold Says His Upcoming Bob Dylan Film Isn’t A Traditional Biopic, Says Dylan Gave Him Notes On Script
With a mixed critical reception and low numbers at the box office, James Mangold‘s new entry in the “Indiana Jones” franchise is officially a disappointment. But that’s not entirely Mangold’s fault.
Heather Locklear’s Ups and Downs Through the Years: Marriages, Motherhood, Rehab and More
In the early days of her career, Heather Locklear was the platonic ideal of a blonde bombshell, idolized by fans real and fictional.
Eva Maria Daniels, Producer of ‘Hold the Dark’ and ‘Joe Bell,’ Dies at 43
posted on Facebook that she “passed away last week in London after a long battle with cancer.” She was diagnosed with Stage 3 cancer in 2020 in the middle of the pandemic but by 2021 was opening up about her experience and noting that she was now cancer-free and happy to spend more time with her young child.“Eva died on the same terms as she lived. She played her cards close to her chest.
Bob Dylan Gave Notes And ‘Personally Annotated’ Script For Upcoming Movie About Him Starring Timotheé Chalamet
Bob Dylan is lending his personal touch to James Mangold’s upcoming film about the timeless music icon.
Bob Dylan inputting on Bob Dylan biopic, director confirms
According to NME, Mangold also noted that the film will not be a “typical biopic”, it being focused on a specific time in Dylan’s life.“It’s a kind of ensemble piece about this moment in time”, he explained, “the early 60s in New York, and this seventeen year old kid with $16 in his pockets hitchhikes his way to New York to meet Woody Guthrie who is in the hospital and is dying of a nerve disease”.“And he sings Woody a song that he wrote for him and befriends Pete Seeger, who is like a son to Woody”, the director went on.
Bob Dylan has “personally annotated” the script for a biopic starring Timothée Chalamet
Bob Dylan has personally contributed to the script for director James Mangold’s upcoming biopic based on the legendary folk musician.Speaking to the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Mangold discussed the upcoming Bob Dylan film, which will be titled A Complete Unknown. When asked if the Bob Dylan was involved in the film at all, Mangold revealed that the musician had “personally annotated” the script, and that Dylan and Mangold had spent several days together discussing the film.A Complete Unknown, which will star Timothée Chalamet as Dylan, is set to begin filming in August, per comments from Mangold in April.
Emilia Clarke Rejects the Claim That Green Screen Acting Isn’t ‘Real’ Acting: Why Do ‘All These Great Actors’ Do It Then?
Zack Sharf Digital News Director Emilia Clarke told the Los Angeles Times that she disagrees with people who claim that acting in front of a green screen isn’t “real” acting. Clarke’s onscreen career has spanned several big franchises, from “Game of Thrones” to “Star Wars” to “The Terminator,” and now the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the Disney+ series “Secret Invasion,” many of which required her to interact with green screens. “The stigma is that people don’t do any acting in these shows,” Clarke said, referring to performing while standing in front of a green screen. “[But] then you’re like, ‘Well, then why are they asking all these great actors to do it, and why are they saying yes?'”
Lisa Vanderpump Has No Plans for New Pump Restaurant After Closing West Hollywood Eatery
Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor Lisa Vanderpump has left the building, as the reality show matriarch’s iconic West Hollywood restaurant Pump closed its doors after 10 years on July 5. “It was purely a business decision,” Vanderpump told me in May, shortly after announcing Pump was closing. “With rents being $80,000 a month now, there’s just no way. That’s why we walked away from Villa Blanca and didn’t renew that lease, too.” She also said that she’s not looking to relocate and open Pump somewhere else in Los Angeles. “I’m opening two more with Caesars Place [in Las Vegas], so that’s very exciting,” Vanderpump said. “I have two already that are going gangbusters. I have TomTom. I have Sur.”
Daniel Kaluuya’s Barney Movie Is an ‘A24-Type’ Film That’s ‘Surrealistic’ and for Adults, Says Mattel Exec: ‘Not That It’s R-Rated’
Zack Sharf Digital News Director With Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie’s “Barbie” gearing up for box office domination this month, the movie is being eyed as a launching pad for Mattel Films. The studio has dozens of more films in the pipeline based on its toys and popular IP, including a Barney movie with Daniel Kaluuya. The “Get Out” Oscar nominee and “Us” star first attached himself to Mattel’s Barney movie in 2019, and a new profile of Mattel Films published by The New Yorker confirms the project remains in development. Mattel Films executive Kevin McKeon told The New Yorker that the Barney movie is “surrealistic” and in the vein of films directed by Charlie Kaufman and Spike Jonze. Those directors are probably not the first two filmmakers one thinks of when the family-friendly Barney name comes up.
Inside the ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’ Surprise Cameo: ‘I Was Profoundly Happy’
Adam B. Vary Senior Entertainment Writer SPOILER ALERT: This story discusses major plot developments, including the final scene, in “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” currently playing in theaters. When Lucasfilm announced in 2016 that Steven Spielberg was making a fifth “Indiana Jones” movie with Harrison Ford, fans naturally wondered how much of a role Karen Allen’s Marian Ravenwood — Indy’s spitfire equal from 1981’s “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and the love of his life — would play in the new film. The last time audiences saw Marian, she was getting married to Indy at the end of 2008’s “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” after she revealed to Indy that they’d had a child together, who Indy meets as teenage greaser Mutt Williams (Shia LaBeouf). So any follow-up movie would at the very least need to address the fact that Indy is married with a (grown) kid.
Tom Sandoval Has Joined The Special Forces Amid Scandoval Fallout!
Get ready to see some more of Tom Sandoval on our screens…
Pete Davidson says Staten Island Ferry purchase has him ‘in the hole’ and turning ship into entertainment venue ‘five years away’
their $280,000 purchase but said that was all the more reason for them to push forward with their nostalgic grand scheme. The “Bupkis” star said he has seen detailed computer mock-ups of plans for the ferry’s interior during an appearance on Seth Meyers’ “Family Trips with the Meyers Brothers” podcast.