After a few sneak peaks and a questionable look at Will Smith as the Genie, Disney has released the first full length trailer for the live action Aladdin. It seems that people may have been jumping to conclusions with the first sneak peeks because this actually looks like a promising movie. The classic songs and iconic characters of the animated original are incorporated throughout the trailer, keeping the nostalgia alive. The sets and costume design look to be pretty impressive, making for quite an exciting trailer. Aladdin is directed by Guy Ritchie and if you look closely enough in this preview, you can see some of his signature style in the action sequences. This will be one of Disney’s 3 live action adaptions of 2019, releasing right in between Dumbo in March and The Lion King in July. Aladdin stars Mena Moussad, Naomi Scott, Will Smith, and Marwan Kenzari. It will be released in theaters on May 24, 2019!
The Jonas Brothers Planning Documentary With Amazon
The day that I’ve waited for is finally here. The Jonas Brothers have reunited with their new single “Sucker”. Have you listened to the song all week and reminisced on all of the times you would dramatically stare out the window while listening to “When You Look Me In The Eyes”? It’s ok to admit that you have. So what does this post have to do with movies? It has everything to do with the silver screen. Don’t worry, we’re getting to that.
My fellow Jonas fans may recall that the brothers have a long history with the art of cinema. In 2009, the “Jo Bros” as some of the kids used to call them, had a role in Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian playing 3 cherubs with voices gifted from God. Did I see the movie twice in theaters just for their 5 minutes of screen time? It’s completely possible. Do you know what else happened in 2009? The brothers graced their fans with a 3-D concert tour film. We’re talking full song performances, backstage footage, even a music video for a brand new song. It was a cinematic experience that I’ll never forget. A time when both music and film joined forces for the height of the Jonas Brothers fandom. 10 years later and it looks like the cycle could be repeating itself.
You read that right. The Jonas Brothers have not only reunited and released a new song, they’ve decided to take things one step further. Get your tour T-shirts, fan posters, and red dresses ready because the brothers are teaming up with Amazon to release a documentary sometime this year. Jennifer Salke, the head of Amazon Studios, said that the documentary, “will be a very personal, behind the scenes look at the Jonas Brothers as they reunite for this exciting tour. Experiencing the brothers back together again is the news that everyone hoped for and we can’t wait to share this intimate and compelling documentary special with all of our customers.” There’s no official release date for this documentary, but I can’t wait to see it!
Green Book Wins Best Picture at Academy Awards
Award season has come to an end with Green Book taking home Best Picture at the Academy Awards on Sunday night. It was a bit of a surprise as Roma was widely predicted to win the award. Roma certainly didn’t go home empty handed though, walking away with Best Director, Best Foreign Language Film, and Best Cinematography.
Perhaps the biggest surprise of all was Olivia Colman’s win for Best Actress in The Favourite. This category was widely predicted to be a win for Glenn Close and her work in The Wife. That was not the case! Colman’s work as Queen Anne was too strong to ignore. She was simply the favourite.
In a surprise to no one, Rami Malek won Best Actor for Bohemian Rhapsody. He’s been sweeping award season for his portrayal of Freddie Mercury and the Oscars were no exception.
Best Supporting Actor went to Mahershala Ali in Green Book. This is his second Oscar win in two years! (The first was for Moonlight) Rounding out the acting categories was the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress which went to Regina King for her work in If Beale Street Could Talk.
Let’s take a look at the full list of winner’s from last night’s show!
Oscar Winners:
Best Picture-Green Book
Best Actor-Rami Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody
Best Actress- 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 Cinematography-Roma
Best Original Song- Shallow, A Star is Born
Best Original Score- Black Panther
Best Original Screenplay- Green Book
Best Adapted Screenplay- BlackKklansman
Best Animated Feature-Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Best Documentary: Free Solo
Best Foreign Film: Roma
Best Costume Design: Black Panther
Best Production Design: Black Panther
Best Makeup and Hair: Vice
Best Visual Effects: First Man
Best Sound Editing: Bohemian Rhapsody
Best Sound Mixing: Bohemian Rhapsody
Best Film Editing: Bohemian Rhapsody
Best Documentary Short: Period. End of Sentence
Best Live Action Short: Skin
Best Animated Short: Bao
Filming Wraps on Star Wars: Episode IX
For everyone wondering what happens next with Rey, Finn, and Kylo Ren, we are one step closer to finding out! Director JJ Abrams posted this photo from the set with the announcement that filming has wrapped on Epidode IX. In the photo, we can see Daisy Ridley (Rey), John Boyega (Finn), and Oscar Isaac (Poe) hugging. This is the final film of the latest trilogy, so it’s sure to be an emotional time for everyone involved. Episode IX still does not have an official title and the plot details are relatively unknown. We do know that there will be some kind of time jump between The Last Jedi to Episode IX. The film will be released on December 20, 2019!
Frozen 2 Will Debut this Fall
6 years have gone by since Disney’s mega-hit Frozen first made its way into theaters. This morning, the first trailer for Frozen 2 was unveiled. That’s right, Frozen fans, you’re finally getting the sequel! It looks as though the sequel will have a fall theme, with lots of foliage on display throughout the short trailer. It’s unclear what the official plot is at this time, but fans can see Elsa, Anna, and Sven reunited in the 2 minute trailer. Frozen 2 will be released on November 22, 2019!
Yesterday: First Trailer
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!
Netflix and Hulu Release Competing Documentaries on Fyre Festival
It seems 2017’s Fyre Festival continues to cause controversy, this time with streaming services. The disasterous musical festival was organized by Billy McFarland and rapper Ja Rule and promoted by several celebrities and social media influencers. It promised a luxurious weekend at a private island in the Bahamas filled with music and fun for all guests. The goal was to be a festival very similar to Coachella. Attendees quickly realized that was not the case when they arrived to see only one band playing. Things got even worse when they realized they would not be staying in a nice hotel, but disaster relief tents. Needless to say, it was a huge scam.
Sounds like the perfect subject for a documentary, doesn’t it? It appears a few people have been thinking the same thing. For months, Netflix has been teasing their documentary on the chaotic festival. FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened is set to premiere this Friday, January 18. As Netflix has been gearing up for the big release, Hulu proved they had a little surprise up their sleeve. On Monday night, the streaming service released a surprise documentary on the same subject called FYRE Fraud.
If you ever wanted to know every detail about this doomed music festival and the con artists behind it, now is the time!
Fyre Fraud (Hulu’s release)
Fyre: The Greatest Party that Never Happened (Netflix’s Release)
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!