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‘Fantastic Beasts’ Early Buzz: Does It Recapture That Harry Potter Magic? By Angie Han/Nov. 7, 2016 7:00 am EST It’s easy to understand why Warner Bros. wanted to make Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. The Harry Potter movies were basically a license to print money. Done right, a spinoff could be the perfect way to keep the dough rolling in — and in fact, early box office tracking suggests this film is poised to do just that....

‘Iron Fist’ Season 2 Early Buzz: A Vast Improvement Over The First Season But Still Not Great By Ethan Anderton/Sept. 5, 2018 10:00 am EST When Marvel’s Iron Fist series debuted on Netflix, it was quickly regarded as the worst of the comic book shows on the subscription streaming service. Lined up alongside the likes of Daredevil, Luke Cage and Jessica Jones, the mystical superhero just fell flat. Thankfully, the producers and writers have learned lessons from that misstep, and they’ve improved in the second season of Iron Fist, at least according to critics who have screen the first six episodes....

‘Jackie’ Early Buzz: An Unconventional, Powerful Biopic With A Great Natalie Portman Performance By Jack Giroux/Sept. 7, 2016 4:00 pm EST Director Pablo Larraín’s (The Club) Jackie left more than a favorable impression at the Venice Film Festival. Larraín’s English language debut about the first lady Jacqueline Kennedy (Natalie Portman) scored rave reviews, with critics praising the filmmaker’s unconventional approach to the biopic and a potential career best performance from Portman....

‘Saturday Night Live’ Gives Natalie Portman The Rap Sequel You’ve Been Waiting For By Ethan Anderton/Feb. 4, 2018 9:00 am EST It’s been 12 years since Natalie Portman first hosted Saturday Night Live, but she finally returned to Studio 8H this past weekend to have fun with an almost entirely new cast. The last time Portman hosted, Andy Samberg and The Lonely Island were making waves with SNL Digital Shorts, and Natalie Portman was part of one of the best in the form of a rap music video....

‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’: Darth Maul Actor Ray Park Talks About Shooting That Cameo And Teaches Us Some Lightsaber Moves By Ben Pearson/Sept. 7, 2018 11:30 am EST Solo: A Star Wars Story didn’t land with quite the splash that Disney and Lucasfilm wanted, but one moment that was a big hit with fans was the secret cameo of Darth Maul, embodied once again by actor Ray Park. I had a chance to catch up with Park in advance of Solo’s home video release, and he told us about Lucasfilm’s hardcore secrecy, shooting that sequence, working with actor Sam Witwer (who provides the character’s voice), and more....

‘X-Men: Days Of Future Past’ Post-Credits Scene Explained By Russ Fischer/May 26, 2014 4:00 pm EST It is standard procedure for a comic book movie to end with a post-credits scene that points toward the next film to come. Once the full credits roll has gone by at the end of X-Men: Days of Future Past, there’s a big one. But the scene doesn’t feature anyone that casual audiences are likely to recognize, and it isn’t set in a location that is familiar to the X-Men films....

10 Reasons Why I Loved The Dark Knight By Peter Sciretta/July 1, 2008 11:13 pm EST I have been given the go ahead to review The Dark Knight, but this is the type of film that I need to see at least two or three times before attempting such a task. The film is so very expansive, so incredibly epic. I decided that instead of a full review, I will just share my first impressions....

Ben Pearson’s Favorite Movies Of All Time By Ben Pearson/March 23, 2017 7:00 am EST What’s up, /Film readers? My name is Ben Pearson, and I’m new here. Talking about movies is clearly a huge part of what we do on the site, so a fitting way for me to introduce myself is to present you with my 15 favorite films of all time so you can either appreciate or scoff at my choices....

Colin Trevorrow Teases ‘Jurassic World 2’ Plot: Dinosaur Breeding Goes Open Source By Ethan Anderton/Aug. 3, 2015 8:00 am EST Having already slipped into the #3 slot on the chart of the highest grossing films of all time, Jurassic World is the biggest movie of the year, though Star Wars: The Force Awakens may have something to say about that this winter. Universal Pictures has already announced that Jurassic World 2 (or Jurassic Park 5) will arrive on June 22nd, 2018 with director Colin Trevorrow and his writing partner Derek Connolly once again taking on the script....

Director Oren Uziel Plays With Expectations With ‘Shimmer Lake’ [Interview] By Jack Giroux/June 21, 2017 6:00 am EST It’s an 83-minute ensemble crime story with a surprising amount of intimacy. Few of Uziel’s characters are what their jobs, past, or archetypes imply. He reveals them all to be more than what they seem with his directorial debut, which marks his first time ever behind the camera. Uziel, who co-wrote 22 Jump Street and the next addition to the Cloverfield universe, God Particle, told us about writing and directing his debut film, which is streaming on Netflix right now....

Disney Is Considering Bringing John Lasseter Back In A Limited Role By Hoai-Tran Bui/May 16, 2018 11:02 am EST Six months after former Pixar and Disney Animation Chief Creative Officer John Lasseter took a sudden leave of absence following reports of his sexual misconduct at the workplace, Disney is considering bringing him back. A new report reveals that Disney executives have been debating letting John Lasseter return to the company. However, Lasseter’s role would be stripped of executive authority, with the animation guru working in a strictly creative capacity....

Ethan Anderton’s 10 Most Anticipated Movies Of 2016 By Ethan Anderton/Jan. 14, 2016 8:00 am EST Now that 2015 is over, we’re in a bit of a dead zone for movies with a lot of junk being dumped in January. Usually this period of disappointing options on the big screen lasts through February and into March, but for me, next month brings three of my 10 Most Anticipated Movies of 2016....

Hans Zimmer Teams With Rodrigo Y Gabriela To Score ‘Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides’ By Peter Sciretta/Feb. 22, 2011 12:00 pm EST Walt Disney Pictures have announced today that the soundtrack for Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides will feature a first time collaboration with Academy Award-winning composer Hans Zimmer (The Lion King, Inception, Sherlock Holmes, Gladiator, The Thin Red Line) and acclaimed guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela....

HBO Picks Up Martin Scorsese And Mick Jagger’s Rock ‘N’ Roll Series By Angie Han/Dec. 3, 2014 7:30 am EST Boardwalk Empire came to a close earlier this year, but HBO’s got more Martin Scorsese / Terence Winter goodness coming our way. The premium cable network has just given a series order to an untitled rock ’n’ roll drama from the pair, with rock ’n’ roll expert Mick Jagger serving as a producer....

Is Han Solo Force Sensitive? An Investigation By Rosie Knight/Dec. 26, 2017 7:00 am EST In Star Wars fandom, there’s a whole galaxy of outrageous fan theories, driven by love, passion, and often a desire to see ourselves reflected on the screen. Much of the time, these theories derive from fans who adore the source material so much that they watch it over and over again, building their own legend and lore within the confines of their own minds....

Jonathan Nolan And Jimmi Simpson Comment On That ‘Westworld’ Theory By Peter Sciretta/Oct. 24, 2016 3:30 pm EST After the second episode of Westworld aired, a fan theory popped up that was potentially mindblowing. The subsequent episodes have completely disproved the theory (unless they haven’t, see here and here). And now showrunner Jonathan Nolan and actor Jimmi Simpson are finally commenting on the most popular Westworld theory. Hit the jump to learn what they said....

Michael Fassbender Joins Chiwetel Ejiofor In Steve McQueen’s ‘12 Years A Slave’ By Russ Fischer/Oct. 11, 2011 1:18 pm EST Michael Fassbender is quickly becoming one of the most sought-after actors working right now. He’s got that combination of skill, looks and fearlessness that makes him desirable for any producer or director. For demonstrations of fearlessness, all you have to do is look to Fassbender’s two films made with director Steve McQueen....

New ‘Willy Wonka’ Movie Shortlist Includes Donald Glover And More By Ethan Anderton/June 5, 2018 10:30 am EST Earlier this year, we found out that Paddington director Paul King had been hired to direct a new Willy Wonka movie at Warner Bros. that would give us a reimagining of the character originated on the big screen by Gene Wilder in 1971’s Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Now the project is trying to find the right man to play the titular confectionery connoisseur, and the shortlist of actors has some enticing options....

New Blu-Ray Releases: ‘Deadpool 2’, ‘Hereditary’, ‘The Tree Of Life’, ‘Upgrade’, ‘The Terror’ By Chris Evangelista/Sept. 4, 2018 12:00 pm EST (Welcome to Not Dead Yet, a feature dedicated to new Blu-ray releases and what special features you should be excited about. Because yes, some of us still like to own physical copies of our movies.) Greeting, physical media phiends. This week’s Blu-ray column rounds up some of the must-have titles available to buy right now (or very soon)....

Roger Ebert: ‘There Are Only Two Meaningful Ratings: R And Not-R’ By Germain Lussier/Dec. 13, 2010 2:32 pm EST The current controversy over the Motion Picture Association of America slapping Derek Cianfrance’s Blue Valentine with an NC-17 rating, and then repealing it, has once again brought into question the usefulness of the MPAA as a whole. In fact, renowned film critic Roger Ebert goes so far to say that “there are only two meaningful ratings: R and not-R” and has called for a total overhaul of the system because, in his words, “our national standards of taste have changed....