Film Features

“Getting older means you realize you can’t waste a minute. Harry Dean knew that since he was 13 years old, and he never wasted a single second,” said John Carroll Lynch.

There’s just no other way to describe what Byron Allen has been doing at the Toronto Film Festival over the past few days, so Neil Turitz takes a step back to look at what the variety show host-turned-titan of the industry has accomplished.

“Rather than going to these festivals and seeing the bright shining lights that emerge from them, we instead choose to focus on which of these movies premiering in front of an audience has any chance at all of scoring Oscar gold, as if that’s the only true measure of a movie’s worth,” writes Neil Turitz.

It’s hard to believe that Stephen King could write a better prison story than The Green Mile, but as fans of The Shawshank Redemption will surely tell you, it’s true.

Can you see Disney turning to one of its Marvel or Pixar directors like Ryan Coogler, Taika Waititi or Brad Bird? What about Ava DuVernay, who just directed A Wrinkle in Time for the studio?

It’s been year since he starred in Oliver Stone’s Snowden , but otherwise, the 36 year-old actor seems to have stayed with his HitRecord venture and having kids. Will he back in the acting and/or directing saddle soon?

Two very different docs, one from the men behind Marwencol and one from a former David Bowie manager, takes you behind the creative process of two men within very different scenarios.

Yes, you read that right! It’s time for Neil Turitz to look back over the first two-thirds of the year for the best and the worst of what the film world has had to offer with the First Second Annual Neily Awards.

It’s been a fun summer, taking a deep dive into each of the major studios, as well as the mid-majors and the biggest and more relevant indie distributors, but it’s probably fitting that we end with the company that is most certainly the biggest disrupter of them all: Amazon.

Doug Nichols ‘documentary features the likes of Tom Hanks, John Mayer and the late Sam Shepard talking about why writing on typewriters helps and inspires their creativity.

While in past boxing movies have received great critical acclaim and box office success, recent releases have shown a downturn in public interest. As MMA fights continue to gain appeal, should Hollywood stories turn their sights to a new sport?

Last year’s crop of acting nominees featured seven performers of color, but expect a regression on the diversity front this year even though Denzel Washington seems like a shoo-in for Roman Israel, Esq.

The age of A-listers we’ve come to know is gone, but when did franchises take over and why didn’t we notice?

How to judge a company that doesn’t actually put its films in theaters? Or doesn’t actually show what kind of revenues it has? The answer to these questions: you don’t judge them by the same criteria.

An Obi-Wan Kenobi standalone movie is officially in the works to which Neil Turitz asks: really? As Lucasfilm insists on limiting itself off to a very small number of characters for their standalone films, are they actually hurting the brand.

Has the director and co-creator of the Saw, Insidious and The Conjuring horror franchises found a sure-fire formula for success or is it just plain luck?

One of the lower-key releases this weekend (and currently only playing at New York’s Film Forum for a week) is this debut feature by a South African filmmaker who explores how much tougher it is being gay in an African tribal setting than it might be anywhere else.

“While the scripted versions of the behind-the-scenes world of entertainment can be insightful, it now feels like these kinds of projects are everywhere, to the point where even those of us who enjoy this kind of self-examination are throwing up our hands and wondering if it has all become overkill,” writes Neil Turitz.

“Did we learn nothing from Midnight Rider and the tragic death of Sarah Jones? The only bottom line that should really matter in this industry is the protection of a human life, not the saving of a few bucks by a production,” John Steven Rocha writes in his final column.

As we march inexorably toward both the end of the Studio Series, we come to one of the most interesting entries of the entire enterprise. Bleecker Street is a new and exciting operation in the indie world that has designs on much bigger and more impressive prey, and ultimately succeeding where Broad Green recently failed.

We live in troubled times. It’s on the news every day, we read about it, it keeps us up at night. Maybe it’s time to start thinking of survival plans, and who better to guide us than Hollywood?

Sony took Bad Boys 3 off its calendar and bumped Michelle MacLaren’s directorial debut The Nightingale to 2019 as it puts faith in several titles from its genre label Screen Gems.

This week’s The Glass Castle is Naomi Watts’ fourth movie of 2017, but did you see any of them, and has she been using her considerable talents to pick the best roles that show off said talents?

The new film from French filmmaker Bertrand Bonello (Saint Laurent) features an amazing group of young actors and an intriguing story that may not immediately be obvious from watching its gorgeous trailer.

In remembrance of country music legend Glen Campbell, Neil Turitz takes a look back at the documentary that depicted the star’s struggle with Alzheimer’s, bringing awareness to the disease and showing the power of filmmaking.

They just don’t make movies like they used to. Seriously. 1992 isn’t generally regarded as a landmark year for cinema but you’d be wrong to dismiss it. The films are still very much part of the culture, starting with Quentin Tarantino’s directorial debut and A Few Good Men.

It’s one thing to take an existing company and examine its ups and downs based on a concrete history. It’s a whole other kettle of fish to utilize the same set of standards and apply them to a pair of companies that have no real track record at all, but which have declared themselves as major players in the arena moving forward.

With the debut of Wet Hot American Summer: 10 Years Later on Netflix this week, one can look back at the cast of the series so far and how many of them have gone on to become successful directors.

Christopher Nolan is regularly praised for his work, but not everyone is in love. Neil Turitz is ready to go to battle with Nolan fans as he gives some critical words to the acclaimed director.

“Those who maintained faith in Wonder Woman were rewarded for trusting the process. After that movie, doesn’t the DCEU deserve the benefit of the doubt,” writes John Steven Rocha.