Masters of the Air, a new series set for Apple TV+ from executive producers Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman.The limited series comes to the streamer next year and stars Austin Butler, Callum Turner, Anthony Boyle, Nate Mann, Rafferty Law, Academy Award-nominee Barry Keoghan, Josiah Cross, Branden Cook and Ncuti Gatwa.Apple TV+ will release the first two episodes of its nine-episode season on Friday, January 26, followed by one new episode every Friday through March 15, 2024.Based on Donald L. Miller’s book of the same name, and scripted by John Orloff, “Masters of the Air” follows the men of the 100th Bomb Group (the “Bloody Hundredth”) as they conduct perilous bombing raids over Nazi Germany and grapple with the frigid conditions, lack of oxygen and sheer terror of combat conducted at 25,000 feet in the air. Portraying the psychological and emotional price paid by these young men as they helped destroy the horror of Hitler’s Third Reich, is at the heart of “Masters of the Air.” Some were shot down and captured; some were wounded or killed. And some were lucky enough to make it home. Regardless of individual fate, a toll was exacted on them all.Ranging in location from the bucolic fields and villages of southeast England, to the harsh deprivations of a German prisoner-of-war camp, and depicting a unique and crucial time in world history, Masters of the Air is said to be enormous in both scale and scope.
‘Wish’ Review: The New Disney Animated Musical Wishes Upon a Star — and a Brand
17.11.2023 - 17:05 / variety.com
Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic “When You Wish Upon a Star” is one of those songs, like “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” that’s bigger than a song. It was first heard, of course, in the 1940 Walt Disney animated classic “Pinocchio,” where it was sung by Jiminy Cricket.
Disney made it the company theme song in the ’50s, and since the early ’80s it has been featured in the studio’s motion-picture logo. Steven Spielberg added a layer of fairy dust to the song’s mythology when he talked about how close he came to playing it over the final moments of “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” For Disney, “When You Wish Upon a Star” is more than an anthem — it’s a totem of corporate magic, a statement of everything the company represents and holds dear.
So what does it mean that “Wish,” the studio’s lavish new animated musical, while it doesn’t include “When You Wish Upon a Star,” is a kind of literal-minded theme-park-ready illustration of it? The movie is a folk tale about wishes, and how they’re made upon stars, and how when you have one it makes no difference who you are. What this means, I think, is that Disney, in the midst of commemorating its 100th anniversary, has become a company so focused on itself that it has now produced a kind of fairy-tale signifier of its own brand.
The studio’s cartoons have always borrowed bits and pieces from each other (all those princesses, all those talking animals and singing kitchenware, and what is Simba losing his father in “The Lion King” but the death of Bambi’s mother redux?). But “Wish” self-consciously packs 85 years of animated magic into a portable Disney fable.
Bradley Cooper’s ‘Maestro’ Explores The Powerful Bond Between Musical Genius Leonard Bernstein And His Wife Felicia: “This Had To Be A Story About Their Relationship”
Leonard Bernstein — the composer of West Side Story and considered one of the world’s greatest conductors — has lived rent-free in Bradley Cooper’s head since 2018, when Steven Spielberg met with him about what was going to be a straightforward biopic of a musical genius. Somehow, Spielberg knew that Cooper had been obsessed with conducting since he was a child. Not because he was some kind of musical prodigy, but because of an episode of The Bugs Bunny Show in which the hero conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the Hollywood Bowl, arms flailing wildly.
'Masters of the Air' Trailer Showcases the Show's Stellar Cast - Watch Now!
The trailer for the nine-part AppleTV+ series Masters of the Air has arrived!
‘Masters Of The Air’ Trailer: Austin Butler & Callum Turner Lead The Bloody Hundredth To Hitler’s Doorstep In Explosive WWII Drama – Update
UPDATED: Apple TV+ has released the latest trailer for its epic World War II drama Masters of the Air. The trailer opens with Austin Butler‘s Maj. Gale ‘Buck’ Cleven promising to write letters to his girl while he is away, because “a girl worth writin’ to is hard to find.”
‘Masters Of The Air’ trailer: Austin Butler and Barry Keoghan take to the skies in WW2 aviation drama
Masters Of The Air starring Austin Butler and Barry Keoghan has arrived – check it out below.The upcoming nine-part limited series is the follow-up to Band Of Brothers and The Pacific, and is set to debut worldwide with the first two episodes on January 26, 2023 via Apple TV+.The high-production drama reunites Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman, who produced 2001 miniseries Band Of Brothers and 2010’s The Pacific. Masters Of The Air is written by John Orloff, while episode directors include Cary Joji Fukunaga (No Time To Die), duo Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (Half Nelson), Dee Rees (Mudbound) and Tim Van Patten (Black Mirror).The series follows the true story – based on Donald L.
‘Wonka’ Review: Timothée Chalamet Makes a Winning Willy Wonka in a Fun Prequel That’s One of the Squarest Movie Musicals in Decades
Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic Every fan of “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” (1971) loves the scene where Gene Wilder, as the mystical candy maker, takes his guests on a psychedelic tunnel ride, zooming through the bowels of the Chocolate Factory as he chants a little verse (“There’s no earthly way of knowing, which direction we are going…”), getting angrier and more hysterical by the second. Wilder’s Wonka was a sweetheart, but he had a hidden maniacal side. And in “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” Tim Burton’s majestically wacked 2005 remake, Johnny Depp, then at the apex of his movie stardom, went full Depp, playing Wonka like some louche vampiristic cross between Anna Wintour and Michael Jackson.
‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ to Arrive on Digital This Week
Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. After debuting at Cannes Film Festival and then hitting theaters in October, Martin Scorsese‘s star-studded crime epic “Killers of the Flower Moon” will be available to purchase on digital and on-demand streaming beginning Tuesday, Dec. 5.
‘Candy Cane Lane’ Review: Eddie Murphy in a Cozy and Rather Loopy Christmas Movie
Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic “Christmas is not about money,” says Pepper (Jillian Bell), the passive-aggressive Christmas store elf in “Candy Cane Lane.” “Except that it is.” She could almost be describing Christmas movies. From the start, they’ve paired a celebration of the Christmas spirit, in all its enveloping toastiness, with a theme of raw economic desperation. You can trace this right back to the original Christmas movie — “A Christmas Carol,” and by that I don’t even mean the assorted film versions (though I grew up with them and especially loved the 1951 version with Alastair Sim) but the Charles Dickens novella, published in 1843, which essentially invented the modern Christmas.
‘Family Switch’ Review: Jennifer Garner and Ed Helms in a Four-Way Body-Swap Comedy That’s More Strenuous Than Funny
Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic In body-swap comedies, the acting is its own kind of brazen put-on fun. Adult actors get to channel their inner innocent kid; young actors get to channel their “serious” adult. And that’s why, ever since the original “Freaky Friday” (1976) brought this genre into being, it’s been marked by instances of true Hollywood artistry, like Tom Hanks’ classic performance in “Big” (though that wasn’t technically a swap comedy) or the lyrically funny bedlam that Jennifer Garner brought off in “13 Going on 30,” one of the best movies of its year.
The Biopic Was Once the Cheesiest of Genres. How Did It Become the Most Thrilling?
Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic The Hollywood biographical drama — or biopic, to use the word that always makes it sound like a dental instrument — is enjoying its mega-moment. “Oppenheimer,” Christopher Nolan’s three-hour epic about the father of the atomic bomb, proved that a story-of-a-life movie could be as big and coruscating as the cosmos; not so incidentally, it’s garnered Nolan the most ecstatic reviews of his career.
Taraji P. Henson, Fantasia Barrino, & Danielle Brooks Promote 'The Color Purple' in NYC
Taraji P. Henson, Fantasia Barrino, and Danielle Brooks are stepping out to promote their highly-anticipated new movie musical.
Paul Greengrass to Direct Adaptation of T.J. Newman Novel ‘Drowning’ For Warner Bros.
Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Paul Greengrass has been hired to adapt the big-screen version of T.J. Newman’s novel “Drowning: The Rescue of Flight 1421.” Greengrass will write, direct and produce the film, which is set at Warner Bros. The studio emerged victorious earlier this year in a bidding war, one that drew interest from the likes of Nicole Kidman, Alfonso Cuarón and Steven Spielberg, along with seven-figure offers from Apple and Bruckheimer, Paramount and Damien Chazelle, Legendary and Universal Television.
Sally Field, Harrison Ford, John Travolta: Iconic roles turned down by major stars
Some of the world's favorite movies could have played out very differently on the big screen. Sally Field turned down the opportunity to be in "The First Wives Club," and Matthew McConaughey was passed up for the lead role in "Titanic." John Travolta was originally slated to appear in "Forrest Gump" before Tom Hanks was cast in the starring role. Steven Spielberg wanted Harrison Ford to star in "Jurassic Park" before the actor turned down the opportunity.
‘Saltburn’s Ambitious Expansion, Bradley Cooper’s ‘Maestro’, Miyazaki’s ‘The Boy And The Heron’ & Apple’s ‘Spirited’ Re-Release – Specialty Preview
Emerald Fennell’s dark comedy Saltburn takes a massive jump from to over 1,500 screens today as Bradley Cooper’s Maestro, Hayao Miyazaki’s latest The Boy and the Heron, animated They Shot The Piano Player and other festival favorites launch awards season runs this Thanksgiving specialty weekend.
‘Cape Fear’ TV Series From Spielberg, Scorsese and Nick Antosca in Development
Jordan Moreau A TV series based on Universal’s “Cape Fear” is in the works with Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg and Nick Antosca. The show, which is in development from UCP, a division of Universal Studio Group, and Amblin, would mark Scorsese and Spielberg’s first ever TV project together. They executive produce with Antosca, who is also the showrunner and created true crime and horror dramas like “Channel Zero,” “The Act” and “Brand New Cherry Flavor.” Other executive producers include Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey from Amblin Television and Alex Hedlund from Eat the Cat.
Disney’s ‘Wish’ review: I wish upon a star that this movie was over
“Mary Poppins” and “Peter Pan,” the reason being that it’s a nostalgia trip for the studio’s 100th anniversary. Well, as far as birthday celebrations go, “Wish” is about as special as throwing your “I’m a century old!” bash at a rest-stop Arby’s.Will young kids enjoy themselves? Of course.
‘Songbirds & Snakes’ Director Francis Lawrence On Finding Tom Blyth; Lead Star Chats Coriolanus Snow’s Next Steps & Lucy Gray Baird’s Whereabouts – Crew Call Podcast
Warning: This podcast contains spoilers about the ending of Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
Albert Brooks and Rob Reiner Get Real With Bill Maher On ‘Real Time’
It was the Thanksgiving show for Bill Maher‘s Real Time, typically his last show of the fall season before a hiatus. But because of the Writers Guild strikes, the show will go on into December.
Peter Bart: Hollywood Hopes A New Round Of “Fixes” Can Cure Its Malaise Rather Than Prolong The Pain
The consensus is clear: Hollywood feels it must pursue what Bob Iger tactfully (or ominously) calls “some fixes.”
Sufjan Stevens’ ‘Illinoise’ Stage Adaptation Sets Spring New York Debut
Illinoise, a theatrical adaptation of Sufjan Stevens‘ career-breakthrough 2005 concept album Illinois, will make its New York City premiere in March at Manhattan’s Park Avenue Armory, the arts venue announced today.