Neil Turitz

As if Captain America: Civil War’s near record-setting success wasn’t bad enough for Warner Bros., there was also the loss of The Flash director Seth Grahame-Smith over “creative differences.” With at least 10 more DC movies coming out in the next three-and-a-half-years, it’s worth asking: is the DCCU doomed?

In the wake of Will Ferrell’s Reagan debacle, I’ve been wondering: When it comes to comedy these days, what, if anything, is off limits? Have we entered a time when we can’t really laugh about things anymore? Do we take ourselves too seriously?

In this day and age, it’s the concept that’s the star, rather than the performer. With that in mind, it’s also time to recognize that we should also be living in a post-whitewashing world.

When Hollywood tries to push a movie star on us, and we don’t respond, it makes us wonder what went wrong. But as the business itself continues to change, perhaps the larger question is this: does the movie star still matter?

We’re living in an age where people can speculate for weeks about who is going to land which coveted part in a highly anticipated movie, only to have the news broken on Instagram by the person cast in the part or the movie’s producer – which, in some cases, are one in the same.

With the Golden Globes making such sweeping changes in an effort at self-improvement, it made me think that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences could stand to do the same. I won’t hold my breath, of course, but if they do decide to make some changes, I have some suggestions.

CinemaCon comes hot on the heels of March’s SXSW, just ahead of Cannes, and, of course, Comic-Con. There’s no end to the coverage, the competition, and the fact that the studios are desperate to get people to come see their movies – and they’re taking advantage of these events now more than ever.

Injustice towards women is everywhere in Hollywood. But the thing is, there’s one area in which the industry appears to be evolving. There’s one place where the fairer sex is slowly but surely starting to get more of its due: as movie villains.

It seems like we’re starting to see a real shift in what audiences want. A shift backwards in time to a more optimistic era, when movies weren’t downbeat examinations into hearts of darkness, but rather idealistic and hopeful tales of triumph. An era we can call, for lack of a better term, Spielbergian.

I’m not saying cliffhangers don’t have their uses. When employed properly, they can be quite effective. But what they shouldn’t do, and what The Walking Dead has done to betray its audience, is to hold off on finishing a story for artificial reasons.

What’s interesting about Fullscreen’s forthcoming VOD subscription service is not just the built-in programming it has lined up, nor the movies and TV shows it will feature. No, what’s most interesting is the target audience: millennials.

Back in the 1970s, the National Association of Theater Owners had the opportunity to get involved in the home video business at its inception, but didn’t take advantage of it. The Screening Room is shaping up to be another moment of opportunity for NATO to potentially seize or snub – and it’s a decision that could influence the industry for years to come.

You know it’s coming, simply because it’s all anyone can talk about. They tell you to pick a side, they throw all kinds of images and faces at you, they talk numbers and revel in the intrigue and suspense. It’s going to be huge, they tell you, and you look at the evidence and realize that, in one form or another, they’re right.