What if The Beatles never existed? It’s hard to imagine, but in Danny Boyle’s latest film, Yesterday, that thought becomes a reality. When struggling songwriter, Jack wakes up from a bus accident, he realizes The Beatles didn’t exist and he’s the only person to know their music. He takes advantage of the opportunity and quickly rises to stardom performing numbers from the band’s songbook. Sounds like quite a unique concept! The film stars Himesh Patel, Lily James, and Kate McKinnon. It will be released in theaters on June 28, 2019! I’m looking forward to this one. Check out the trailer below
Popular Films at Sundance
The Sundance Film Festival just concluded in Park City, Utah! The festival is known to host a wide variety of films that go on to receive critical and audience acclaim. I wasn’t an attendee, but I do know about some of the films gathering a lot of buzz. What are they? Read on and find out!
Apollo 11
A documentary made up of never-before-seen footage of the Apollo 11 mission to get a man on the moon.
The footage looks incredible and I can’t believe the filmmakers got it to be so clear considering it’s from the late 1960’s. Apollo 11 will be distributed by Neon and released later this year.
Late Night
Directed by Mindy Kaling, Late Night is a story of a female talk show host (Emma Thompson) who thinks she might be losing her show. Other members of the cast include Mindy Kaling and Amy Ryan. Late Night was just bought by Amazon Studios. There’s no set release date for the film as of right now.
The Last Black Man in San Francisco
This is a film dealing with themes of gentrification as a black man sees his city change drastically around him. It has received a lot of praise from festival attendees. The film stars Jimmie Fails, Jonathon Majors, and Danny Glover. It will be distributed by A24.
Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile
One of the most buzzed about films at the festival was Extremely Wicked starring Zac Efron as Ted Bundy and Lily Collins as Elizabeth Kloepfer, Bundy’s girlfriend, who didn’t believe the truth about his crimes. The bizarre title of the film comes from a statement that a judge made referencing Bundy’s heinous crimes. The film will be released by Netflix later this year.
The Farewell
Many attendees at Sundance have praised The Farewell for being one of the strongest films at the festival. It’s a true story from the life of director Lulu Wang about a Chinese family who finds out their grandmother is dying of cancer. Instead of telling her the news, the family decides to have a large reunion and keep the upsetting diagnosis a secret from her. It’s been said that lead actress Awkwafina gives a great dramatic performance, which is a change of pace from her usual comedic roles. The Farewell was picked up by A24.
The Report
The Report is a political drama following CIA agents and their interrogation methods following the 9/11 attacks. It boasts an impressive cast of Annette Benning, Jon Hamm, Adam Driver, and Maura Tierney. The Report has also been picked up by Amazon Studios.
Honey Boy
One of the more bizarre, but talked about films of the festival was Honey Boy. It’s tells of Shia Labeouf’s tumultous childhood and difficult relationship with his father. Labeouf plays his father in the film and wrote the screenplay. It all sounds like a very meta project from the mind of Shia Labeouf. Honey Boy will be distributed by Amazon Studios.
Leaving Neverland
Perhaps the most controversial project coming out of Sundance is Leaving Neverland, a documentary about Wade Robson and Jimmy Safechuck, two men who claim they were sexually abused by Michael Jackson when they were children. Based on the topic, this is sure to be a very upsetting and shocking documentary. It will premiere in the spring on HBO.
Brittany Runs a Marathon
Jillian Bell plays Brittany, a woman who tries to use running to get her life together. It’s said to be a funny and inspiring film. Guess the distributor? Amazon Studios.
These are just a few of the buzz worthy films that premiered this year at Sundance. One thing’s for sure though, most of the films out of Sundance will be distributed through Amazon Studios!
First Look at Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Quentin Tarantino’s next film, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, is set in 1969 around the Manson Family Murders as a TV actor and his stunt man attempt to make a name for themselves in Hollywood. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Rick Dalton, a washed up actor, Brad Pitt as Cliff Booth, his stuntman, and Margot Robbie as Sharon Tate. Other stars include Al Pacino, Kurt Russell, Dakota Fanning, and Scoot McNairy. It will be released on July 26th, 2019. Here are some of the first photos to be released from the set!
Brad Pitt as Cliff Booth
Leonardo DiCaprio as Rick Dalton
Margot Robbie as Sharon Tate
Brad Pitt, Leonardo Dicaprio, and Al Pacino as Marvin Schwarzs
You can look at even more photos from the film at Vanity Fair!
Spider-Man: Far From Home First Look
It looks like Spider-Man isn’t dead after all! Although things seemed pretty bleak for the iconic hero at the end of Avengers: Infinity War, Marvel just dropped the first trailer for Spider-Man: Far From Home, proving Peter Parker will make it out alive. (To the surprise of no one) The Homecoming sequel will follow Peter Parker and his friends as they go on summer vacation to Europe. There, Peter will meet villan named Mysterio. Far From Home stars Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, and Jake Gyllenhaal. The film will take place after the events of Avengers: Endgame. It will be released on July 5, 2019.
Bohemian Rhapsody and Green Book take home top Golden Globe Awards
In a surprising turn of events, Bohemian Rhapsody took home the award for Best Film-Drama at Sunday night’s Golden Globe Awards. Moments prior to the win, Rami Malek was announced as the winner in the Best Dramatic Actor category for his portrayal of Freddie Mercury in the film. It was not widely predicted that Bohemian Rhapsody would take home the award because it has been divisive among critics.
Green Book took home the second biggest award of the night, Best Film-Comedy or Musical. If you’re wondering why a film about segregation in the 1960’s was placed in the comedy category…you aren’t the only one. The Hollywood Foreign Press doesn’t exactly know what constitutes a comedy. Two of the other nominees in its company were Vice and The Favourite, not exactly comedic affairs. Green Book also took home Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor for Mahershala Ali.
Full list of film winners
Best Film, Drama- Bohemian Rhapsody
Best Film, Comedy or Musical- Green Book
Best Actor, Drama- Rami Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody
Best Actress, Drama- Glenn Close, The Wife
Best Actor, Comedy or Musical- Christian Bale, Vice
Best Actress, Comedy or Musical- Olivia Colman, The Favourite
Best Supporting Actor- Mahershala Ali, Green Book
Best Supporting Actress- Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk
Best Director- Alfonso Cuaron, Roma
Best Screenplay- Green Book
Best Foreign Film- Roma
Best Animated Film- Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Best Original Song- Shallow, A Star is Born
Best Original Score- Justin Hurowitz, First Man
Avengers: Endgame First Trailer
After Avengers: Infinity War, Marvel fans were left with a ton of questions. Is that really the ending? What happens next? What will the continuation of the movie be called? Today, a few of those questions have been answered! The title of the film will be Avengers: Endgame and it will be released April 26, 2019. It looks like all of the core Avengers from the original movie (Captain America, Iron Man, Black Widow, Thor) will be teaming up along with Ant-Man to fight Thanos.
You can watch the trailer here!
Wes Anderson begins filming "The French Dispatch"
Wes Anderson fans, prepare yourselves! The director has just started filming his 10th movie titled The French Dispatch. It will be filmed in France and, in true Wes Anderson fashion, it’s already set to have an all star cast. The cast is set to include Tilda Swinton, Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, and Timothée Chalamet. There are rumors swirling that Brad Pitt and Natalie Portman may have roles as well. Thanks to an exclusive from IndieWire, the plot is said to be “a love letter to journalists” and follows 3 stories that weave together in the 20th century.