Matthew Monagle
FOX Will Shoot Its Eye Out With a Live ‘A Christmas Story’ Musical
While A Christmas Story is about as bold a holiday choice these years as Die Hard — did you know it takes place during Christmas???! — I’ll always carry a candle for Bob Clark’s story of a family growing up in 1940s America. My own extended family would gather for the holidays each year and practically have A Christmas Story on a loop; it was a good day, then, when TBS saved us the trouble of rewinding the VHS tapes and started playing the film 24/7 on our behalf. Cliche or not, A Christmas Story still sets the stage for the holidays in my household.
Dwayne Johnson Promises a ‘Far Dirtier’ ‘Baywatch’ Movie Than You’d Expect
What came first, the raunchy beach comedy or the Baywatch movie adaptation? Hollywood seems to have discovered in recent years that it can take an existing license — typically one associated with a semi-popular television series — and give it new life as a profane comedy for adults. Sure, there are probably a handful of Baywatch purists out there who have watched the sophomoric humor in the trailers with horror, but for everyone else? A vague recollection of the Baywatch brand and an appetite for 21 Jump Street-esque humor is all they need to be enticed.
Vin Diesel Weighs in on His Beef With ‘Uncle Dwayne’ Johnson
F8Gate. The ‘Candy Ass’ Heard ’Round the World. Call it what you will, but last year’s unexpected beef between Dwayne Johnson and Vin Diesel on the set of The Fate of the Furious has resulted in a Hollywood blind item almost as interesting and epic as the movie franchise that spawned it. Forget about turning your back on family; watching Dwayne Johnson lose his legendary cool over one of his costars was like watching a couple you really admired go through a messy divorce. Were things really that out-of-control behind the scenes or was this all an elaborate ruse involving two men who understand the showmanship involved in a proper heel turn?
‘Logan’ Screenwriter Explains Why This Film Works Better Than ‘The Wolverine’
There are two ways in which Logan represents a major change for superhero movies. The first, and most obvious, is the maturity of its content. Wolverine swears, Xavier swears, people get decapitated, and both Hugh Jackman and Dafne Keen spend the majority of the film covered in fake blood. Perhaps the more interesting change, though, is what Logan doesn’t do. It doesn’t feel the need to wrap up two decades’ worth of canon, or leave the door open for a sequel, or culminate in a big fight sequence with recognizable faces from the X-Men universe. Put it another way: Logan is the best at what it does, but what it does isn’t very superhero movie-ish.
Bill Paxton, Star of ‘Aliens’ and ‘Twister,’ Passes Away at 61
As a teenager in the ’90s, no actor better represented blockbuster movies than Bill Paxton. Although Paxton wasn’t typically a leading man in those movies — he would often play the brother, the second-in-command, or the comic relief — he served as a kind of talisman of quality. If you saw Paxton’s name in the opening credits of a movie, you knew that the film was going to be better for it.
The First Poster for ‘The Fate of the Furious’ Features Two Sad Bros
This has been a pretty busy week for fans of the Fast and the Furious franchise. Not only did we get an official title for the eight film in the series, The Fate of the Furious — which, for inexplicable reasons that continue to haunt the internet, did not spell ‘fate’ as ‘f8’ — we also got our first glimpse at new footage courtesy of a trailer tease and promises of a full theatrical trailer on Sunday evening.
Will Smith Explains Why He Passed on ‘Independence Day: Resurgence’ for ‘Suicide Squad’
I’ll admit, I was one of those people mildly excited for Independence Day: Resurgence. Not only did the film return both Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman — as well as the up-and-coming Maika Monroe — it was also a welcome trip down memory lane to the original Independence Day, one of the first really big blockbuster movies I remember seeing in theaters. I know I’m not the only one whose interest in the film was pure nostalgia; as it turns out, this link to the past is exactly why Will Smith chose not to come back for a second film.
‘Pokemon: The First Movie’ Is Headed Back to Theaters
Ah, the Pokémon franchise. It seems like only yesterday that millions of people were wandering the streets of their hometowns, eyes locked to their smartphone screens as they flung Pokeballs at imaginary creatures hovering over local businesses. The Pokémon Go craze, with its innovative use of technology and beloved cartoon characters, brought the popular animated series back into the public spotlight. And with news that Legendary Pictures would shoot a new live-action Pokémon movie in 2017, it was only a matter of time before some of the original films found their way back into theaters.
Watch the Trailer for Netflix’s Justin Timberlake Concert Film ‘Justin Timberlake and the Tennessee Kids’
I don’t think it’s a particularly bold statement to say that Justin Timberlake is one of the great all-around talents currently working today. Everyone knows his music and his hilarious appearances on Saturday Night Live, but with a filmography that includes everything from Inside Llewyn Davis to The Social Network, Timberlake has also proven himself several times over as an actor. Whatever Timberlake decides to do, odds are he will do it very, very well.
Matthew McConaughey to teach University Film Class
Remember those days in high school where your regular history teacher would call in sick and some anonymous substitute would just put on a VHS of Glory or Gettysburg and call it a day? It turns out that practice is still alive and well at universities across the country, with one small difference: instead of some random recent college graduate as a substitute teacher, these students will be visited by Hollywood star Matthew McConaughey.