The WFCC press release reads as follows “HALL OF SHAME: THE GOTHAMS — For removing the category Best Actress, in the further erasing of women”. Hilarious. Why just stop at the Gothams? This year also saw the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, the Indie Spirits, and the Berlin Film Festival all going Gender Neutral. I called this. A circular fire squad is about to occur with the gender-neutral categories at awards shows....

“While we respect Disney as an entertainment institution responsible for creating many of our childhood memories, the decision to trademark ‘Hakuna Matata’ is predicated purely on greed andis an insult not only the spirit of the Swahili people but also, Africa as a whole,” Mpala wrote in the Change.org petition, which has more than 130,000 signatures. Mpala describes the Disney trademark as an “assault on the Swahili people and Africa as a whole....

There’s a line that follows the film’s superb prologue, in which a scientist played by Clemence Poesy, utters almost immortal words, “Don’t try to understand it, just feel it”. You’d be forgiven for thinking that was Christopher Nolan speaking directly to audiences worldwide as they’re beaten into submission by this time-traveling, espionage romp. The opening 10 minutes are just remarkably Nolan. A set-piece at a Kiev opera house involving the film’s Protagonist John-David Washington, known simply as, The Protagonist, confused yet?...

The film commences with two friends on a biking trip in the French countryside, pumping their way up a steep hillside, only for the dapper Mike (Covino) to inform surly Kyle (Marvin) that he slept with his fiancee. Multiple times. It turns out the decision to break the news to him in the middle of a biking vacation was not ill-timed. “I’m going to kill you!” a short-winded Kyle angrily replies....

Early word-of-mouth for “Ammonite” is very strong, but it does give off similar vibes to last year’s Celine Sciamma stunner “Portrait of A Lady on Fire,” which, much like Lee’s film, also had two tightly-corseted, socially restricted women taking walks down the tip of the coast only to, eventually, fall madly in love with each other. Kate Winslet is being heavily discussed as a Best Actress contender for next year’s Oscars and Saoirse Ronan, playing Winslet’s young lover, could also figure prominently in the race....

So far, you basically just have The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw not down with this movie. Critics who really liked it include Davis Ehrlich, Bilge Ebiri, David Sims, Jake Cole and Mike Ryan. From a writer friend: “The first hour is a real chore to sit through, story-wise, a lot of set-up but incredible visuals and then the story HITS HARD. It marvellously sucks you into its story. I haven’t had this kind of theatrical experience in a very long time....

“Endgame” takes place after the shocking events of “Infinity War,” with half of the world’s population gone, after Thanos secured all the Infinity Stones and snapped his finger. There are survivors of “the snap,” including Captain America and Black Widow, who attempt to reverse what happened. I gather it should be fine, all will be well in the end for our MCU heroes, but I’m praying The Russos have a few surprises up their sleeves, I beg you, please don’t make this last chapter a by-the-books affair, go out with a bang, shoot the action the same way you elevated 2014’s “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” into the level of art....

EARLIER: A trailer/teaser for Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” will be unveiled either tomorrow or early next week. I am so curious about how this movie will turn out, a trailer will hopefully give us a good indication as to what to expect. Gerwig and Noah Baumbach wrote the screenplay for “Barbie,” which is said to be a very meta tackling of the famous Mattel doll. You also have Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling starring as Barbie and Ken....

“Blonde” has been in theaters now, in select cities, for two weeks. Audience reaction so far are exactly as expected. A 42% audience score on RT, 6.2 rating on IMDB, and 3.7 on Metacritic. I find all of this very amusing. That Netflix would invest in such an obtuse, detached and graphic art film. It’s great for us cinephiles. Dominik’s film was never going to be well-liked by mainstream audiences, then again the majority of the critics seem to also be against the film....

Sian Heder’s screenplay beat Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog.” Another momentum loss for Campion’s film. Critics can only push a movie so far without legitimate audience enthusiasm. Don’t get me wrong, many Oscar voters do love “The Power of the Dog,” but, sadly, possibly not enough to make it win Best Picture. Adam McKay’s “Don’t Look Up” won Best Original Screenplay, beating Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Licorice Pizza.” Does this mean PTA might lose the Oscar as well?...

In my not-so-complimentary review of “Corporate Animals” from Sundance, I wrote, “Even when the film quickly demonstrates that it’s just not going to make a meal of its hilarious concept, you still expect to have some laughs, based solely on the fact of how talented Brice is as a filmmaker. Unfortunately, “Corporate Animals” barely registers chuckles and its failure to appropriately skewer the corporate retreat and all its phony ideas of family and organizational harmony, is just a huge missed opportunity....

Radio personalities Adam Carolla and Dennis Prager are using crowdfunding site IndieGoGo to fund their film “No Safe Spaces,” which the official synopsis describes as “the dangerous trend of suppressing free speech, and how our future depends on stopping it.” So far, the filmmakers have raised more than $682,000 for the project, due to be released in the spring of 2019, and which will feature guest commentary from the likes of Tim Allen, Cornel West, Van Jones, Alan Dershowitz, Ben Shapiro, Jordan Peterson and Dave Rubin....

Despite my negative take, I was under the impression that it was well-received by TIFF audiences. Critics had their daggers ready for this film, but more than a few Toronto moviegoers told me they absolutely fell head over heels for ‘Empire’. It does feature gorgeous photography from Roger Deakins, who is a total rock star. However, I am not entirely sure what the point of “Empire of Light” was, other than to give Olivia Colman a major showcase role and set the film in a movie theatre....

It’s also been, more or less, agreed upon that if there is one Best Picture contender to have been released so far this year then it’s this one. I don’t know if older Academy voters will go for this outrageous movie, but its incredible success at the box-office will definitely push it forward. The film premiered at South by Southwest in March to rapturous praise. It’ll probably top our mid-year critics poll next week....

The ‘Glass Onion’ Wednesday intake was around $2M, with the 3-day and 5-day projected out to be $8.5M and $12.3M. They’re probably underestimating the numbers too. This would have opened to over $50 million if it was released in 3000+ theaters. Netflix should really be embarrassed about this decision, especially coming at a time when adult counter programming is struggling at the box-office. Back in August, I predicted big numbers for ‘Glass Onion’ if Netflix was willing to give it a full-on theatrical rollout....

Fans of Tartt’s novel should not panic, for now, because some real talent will be behind this screen adaptation. Roger Deakins will be the Director of Photography, his first film since his Oscar-winning work in 2017’s “Blade Runner 2049.” Stalwart actresses like Nicole Kidman and Sarah Paulson are part of the cast; On the male side we have Finn Wolfhard, Ansel Elgort, Luke Wilson and Jeffrey Wright, Ok, fine, I’m skeptical about director John Crowley being part of the mix, yes his colorfully nostalgic work in “Brooklyn” was not bad, but I wouldn’t neccesarilly say he has the chops to pull this one off....

Mintz’s film is semi-autobiographical, recounting her transfer to an L.A. high school where she ended up hanging out with the wrong crowd. The lead actress here is a young woman by the name of Rain Spencer and she’s very good in the titular role — she even ended up winning the Best Actress award. Jane is a shy teenager who ends up hanging with the wrong people and falling for the wrong guy, a drug dealer (Patrick Gibson) much older than her....

The film stars French-Romanian actress Anamaria Vartolomei as Anne, a university student in 1963 France who cannot seem to find her way in a sexist bureaucracy to terminate her pregnancy. This is an uncomfortable watch and all the more for the fact that Diwan refuses to hold back on the explicit details. There’s a memorable scene where one of Anne’s friends teaches her how to masturbate with a pillow at their dorm room, she’s not sure what an orgasm is, but tells her to continue grinding on the pillow until she feels a release....

I wasn’t too keen on the idea of a sequel getting made. Then potential details of the script leaked and changed my mind. The supposed plot would NOT have Lady Gaga playing Harley Quinn, as rumored, but a totally different and new character. Director Todd Phillips is clearly going for something much more ambitious than originally perceived with the sequel. They’re throwing the blueprint out of the door and making something singular, unique, that’s what Phillips/Phoenix/Gaga seem be aiming for here....

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