Charles Bramesco
A New Nighttime Show Will Add an Extra Dose of Magic to Harry Potter Theme Park
Stocks in magic are down. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was less than fantastic (hey-o), the much-touted stage play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child won’t come to Broadway for months, and we can assume that the constant onslaught that was 2016 sapped many children of their belief in the wonder of magic. The Harry Potter-industrial complex needs a shot in the arm, and head honchos over at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park may have just the thing to inspire a little excitement.
American Heroes at TCM Bringing ‘The Godfather,’ ‘Casablanca,’ ‘E.T.’ to Theaters in 2017
One of the greatest advantages of living in or around a major metropolitan area, at least for cinephiles, is the abundance of repertory screening options. Independently run theaters will run older, foreign or rare movies to impassioned audiences who may not have had access to the material otherwise, balancing their filmic diet with a healthy balance of new releases and classics. Sure, pert near everything can be found online if you’re willing to investigate some shadier torrenting sites. But the experience of seeing a movie in a dark theater on the big screen, especially a nicely lived-in celluloid print and all its endearing pops and scratches — that makes a difference.
Spidey Gets an Upgrade Courtesy of Tony Stark in First ‘Homecoming’ Teaser
For a fresh start with Spider-Man, Sony had to give him something distinctive. To set Tom Holland’s take on the webslinger apart from Tobey Maguire’s (and way, way apart from Andrew Garfield’s), the studio sent the hero back to high school and returned him to his teenage roots. Spider-Man: Homecoming aims to be a new take on the comic-book mythos all over, in fact — a new girlfriend in pop star Zendaya, the first onscreen appearance of the villainous Vulture, and with a new teaser unearthed today, we learned that a key piece of latter-day Spidey tech will make it movie debut as well.
Fort Worth PD Enlists Empire Stormtroopers for New Recruitment Video
Over the past couple of years, policemen have fallen pretty far out of favor with the American people. The U.S. police force is in dire need of a little PR management, something that shows their sense of humor and gives a more human, relatable slant to the boys in blue.
‘Jason Bourne’ Producer Down for More Sequels, If You’d Be Into That
Jason Bourne, the latest installment in the popular Bourne Identity series of espionage films, approaches its home video release next week on December 6. That film, released this past summer, raked in a grand total of $415.2 million at the global box office.
Is That Grand Moff Tarkin in the New ‘Rogue One’ TV Spot?
The late actor Peter Cushing, mainstay of Hammer’s horror films and erstwhile Star Wars cast member, cut a distinctive figure: cheekbones that could slice diamond, perfectly coiffed shock of grey hair, mouth permanently pursed into a single flat line. As the ruthless Empire commander Grand Moff Tarkin, Cushing left a lasting impression on generations of viewers, austerity coded directly into the lines on his face. He makes for an instantly recognizable silhouette — so is that really him, out of focus and in the foreground for a split second in the latest Rogue One: A Star Wars Story TV spot?
Aaron Paul’s Losing His Mind in the ‘Come and Find Me’ Trailer
It’s a classic premise, and for good reason: guy’s wife/girlfriend/daughter vanishes into thin air, guy drives himself halfway to madness in dogged attempts to get her back, guy grows unkempt beard of mourning. It has drama and intrigue wired right into the plot beats, allows for some salacious secrets, and who doesn’t love a good mystery? George Sluizer’s 1988 film The Vanishing may have done it best, but just a couple of years ago, David Fincher gave him a run for his money with Gone Girl. And today, we get our first look at the latest entry in this grand storytelling tradition.
Smithsonian Mounts $300,000 Campaign to Preserve Dorothy’s Ruby Slippers
A step above the sought-after Maltese Falcon and the fabled Ark of the Covenant, Dorothy Gale’s ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz have to be the single most vital prop in cinematic history. The red-sequined shoes, so lusted after by the Wicked Witch of the West in the immortal 1939 fantasy film, have spent the last 30 years as one of the Smithsonian's most popular attractions. But not even magical footwear is immune to the ravages of time, and Judy Garland’s old kicks have lost a bit of their luster. As The Hollywood Reporter notes, the iconic slippers have faded from their original Technicolor ruby to something closer to “a dull auburn.”
Let the Retro ‘Nice Guys’ Trailer Transport You Back to the ‘70s
Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino’s ambitious Grindhouse project — a double feature of horror flicks modeled after the look and feel of ’70s sleaze cinema — had its troubles upon release, mostly that it felt approximately a million hours long...
Anthony Weiner Collapses Into Self Like Dying Star in ‘Weiner’ Trailer
A real card, that Anthony Weiner. He was an unusually passionate — read: noisy — Democratic representative in Congress for twelve years, railing tirelessly to better New York’s 9th district through planned housing and government assistance programs. A noted proponent of LGBT causes and other urgent social issues, Weiner was well-liked by his constituents. Until the fateful day of May 27, 2011 when Weiner tweeted a photo of his dong-outline bulging through his briefs to a young woman who was following him on Twitter. (Though, c'mon, who hasn’t been there? Am I right, fellas?) It sparked a scandal and stuck Weiner with the stench of perversion, culminating in his resignation from Congress in June of that same year.