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.
Paul McCartney Teases His ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales’ Character
It would seem that there are two stages every iconic musician must got through in the twilight of their career: induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and a guest spot in one of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Such was the case with Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards, who — in a nod to Johnny Depp’s appropriation of elements of his persona — appeared in two films as the father of Jack Sparrow. And now the franchise has pulled in another iconic musician, with Beatles legend Paul McCartney sharing his slightly foppish character.
Peter Parker’s Secret Is Busted in This New ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ Clip
The MTV Movie & TV Awards have always been kind to our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. In 2003, Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man took home awards for Kirsten Dunst and Best Kiss — seriously, who can forget that upside down kiss in the rain? — as well as nominations for Best Actor, Best Villain, and Best Movie. So with Marvel’s Spider-Man: Homecoming on its way into theaters this summer, what better place to premiere a brand new trailer? Odds are MTV’s voters will have Tom Holland on the stage next year for Best Hero in the upcoming film. Man, I wish all award shows had categories this fun.
‘The Godfather’ Cast Reunites for an Evening of Production Stories
Despite its prime location in the heart of New York City, the Tribeca Film Festival has always been regarded more as a regional film festival than a destination for big world premieres. That being said, Tribeca does have one thing that other festivals lack: unfettered access to Robert De Niro, the festival’s co-founder and cinematic advocate for all things New York. This has made Tribeca a prime destination for anniversary screenings of some of the actor’s biggest films; in 2015, for example, Tribeca hosted a 25th anniversary celebration of Goodfellas with the cast and crew in attendance. And this year, De Niro has topped himself, bringing together the men and women behind The Godfather for a frank discussion about the film.
Seth Rogen and Lonely Island Are Making Their Own Music Festival Disaster Movie
These days, we take our amusement where we can. For the past week, the internet has been entranced by the disaster that is the Frye Festival, a supposed music festival for rich millennials that quickly descended into anarchy when musicians and vendors pulled out due to its unsafe conditions. The full scope of the festival’s failure was laid bare in Friday’s piece at New York Magazine, where one administrator — or former admin, since she dropped as soon as she realized the full scope of the organizers’ failure — spoke candidly about the missteps leading up to the festival. For entertainment value, the Frye Festival just can’t be beat.
Sean Bean Brings Death From Afar in the First Trailer for ‘Drone’
Hollywood tends to operate with a little bit of a delay. A few years ago, it became public knowledge that the American government uses drone strikes to carry out attacks on enemy combatants from halfway around the world. As such, we’re now seeing a handful of movies that use those headlines to make a statement about the dangers of modern warfare. In 2014, IFC Films released Good Kill, a drama starring Ethan Hawke about a family man who begins to question the morality of killing people from halfway around the world. The latest film to tackle this issue is Drone, the new film starring Sean Bean with a similar premise but a decidedly more lurid execution.
The ‘Star Wars’ Canon Expands in the First Trailer for ‘Star Wars Battlefront II’
When is a video game more than just a video game? When the story it tells is woven into the legends and events of one of the biggest blockbuster movie franchises of all time. This weekend, Electronic Arts debuted the first footage from its upcoming Star Wars Battlefront 2, the sequel to the bestselling 2015 Star Wars video game, with the promise that this game would tell canonical stories not previously seen in the Star Wars universe. It’s all part of an ambitious effort by Lucasfilm to weave these Star Wars stories across a variety of media, including the films, television shows, video games, and books.
‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ Director Answers Questions About Rey’s Parents and the Plurality of ‘Jedi’
One of the most debated plots points of Star Wars: The Force Awakens has been the lineage of Daisy Ridley’s Rey. Could she be the daughter of Luke Skywalker? The daughter of Obi-One Kenobi? The daughter of… actually, come to think of it, those are the only two human Force-users we’ve met since the original Star Wars movie, so it’s either a very familiar face or someone totally out of the blue. Regardless, fans have now spent two years not knowing something about their favorite character, and that’s a long, long time for knowledge to be withheld in 2017. They’re ready for answers.
Earth Comes Under Fire in This New ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’ Clip
With Star Wars: The Last Jedi dominating today’s conversations on social media, you might’ve forgotten that there are actually other movies being released in 2017. There are many! In fact, some of them are even being released by the same studio! One such film — the little-known Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 — braved the onslaught of Star Wars talk to release a brand new clip last night, setting the stage for future films in the franchise (and turning one late night sidekick into a movie star in the process). While the attached video shows the full segment, I’ve queued it up the relevant part.
Watch the New Cast of ‘MST3K’ Riff on ‘Stranger Things’
Alright, a gold friggin’ star to the person who thought of this one. With the new season of Mystery Science Theater 3000 hitting Netflix today, most of the conversation has been dominated by lifelong fans of the show — fans like myself — who are some combination of excited and apprehensive about the return of their favorite television series. But what about the next generation of MST3K fans? How does Netflix introduce them to their service? Why, by riffing on another Netflix property that everyone already knows and loves, of course!
The Cast of ‘The X-Files’ Will Reunite for a New Audibook
Here’s a little bit of free relationship advice for you: find someone who loves you like David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson love playing Mulder and Scully. It’s been more than two decades — two decades! — since both actors debuted their iconic characters on Fox’s The X-Files, and even after nine seasons, a movie, another movie, and a sorta-miniseries, neither one shows any signs of slowing down. In an era where audiences seem to demand that actors love their characters as much as we do, there’s something refreshing about two performers who come by such affection naturally. Anderson in particular is a powerhouse star of stage and screen, but get her talking about Dana Scully and she’s just as passionate as any of us.
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.