News

The return of Cameron Diaz continues with news that the actor is in final negotiations to join Jonah Hill and Keanu Reeves in the dark comedy Outcome.

Hill will direct and co-wrote the screenplay with Ezra Woods. Reeves will star as Reef, a damaged Hollywood star who must confront his demons and make amends after he is extorted by a mysterious video clip from his past.

Matt Dines, Ali Goodwin and Hill will produce the Apple Studios production through their Strong Baby.

Hill and Apple Original Films are also developing a Grateful Dead biopic with Martin Scorsese’s Sikelia Productions...

On the surface, there’s very little about either Open Your Eyes or Vanilla Sky that screams Erotic Thriller. Both Alejandro Amenábar’s 1997 Spanish original and Cameron Crowe’s 2001 American remake are frequently classified as psychological thrillers, or even dramas, due to their interest in exploring the downward spiral of the main character.

And yet, upon closer examination, both films owe a heavy debt to the tropes of the Erotic Thriller.

As we’ve previously explored in this editorial series, Erotic Thrillers embody the characteristics of Film Noir, albeit with a more contemporary perspective when it comes to sex and violence. There’s often a healthy dose of voyeurism and fetishism, typically embodied in doubles of characters (usually women). And, naturally, sex and death become intertwined as the desires of characters tend to result in dangerous consequences.

Nearly all of these elements are present in Open Your Eyes and Vanilla Sky.

Showgirls? The Blair Witch Project? And not a Bertolucci film in sight? The public’s judgment has hit a new low with this list of cinematic snorefests

The British public, wrong as they are about everything, have just outdone themselves. A survey has been published – a survey to promote a new type of washing machine, but still – listing the 20 most boring films of all time. And, lord, it is a mess. Let’s begin by showing you which films the public chose:

1. 50 Shades of Grey

2. The Blair Witch Project

3. Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace

4. Brokeback Mountain

5. Transformers

6. The Postman

7. The Artist

8. Australia

9. Vanilla Sky

10. Seven Years in Tibet

11. Batman and Robin

12. 2001: A Space Odyssey

13. The Matrix Revolutions

14. Showgirls

15. Far and Away

16. The Tree of Life

17. Noah

18. Meet Joe Black

19. Lincoln

20. Cleopatra

Continue reading...

With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’ve taken it upon ourselves to highlight the titles that have recently hit platforms. Every week, one will be able to see the cream of the crop (or perhaps some simply interesting picks) of streaming titles (new and old) across platforms such as Netflix, iTunes, Amazon, and more (note: U.S. only). Check out our rundown for this week’s selections below.

Boogie Nights (Paul Thomas Anderson)

As we await Paul Thomas Anderson‘s next film later this year, one now has the chance to see his sprawling second feature about the world of pornography in a 70s and 80s Los Angeles on Netflix. Boogie Nights, which features much of the ensemble — including Mark Wahlberg, Julianne Moore, Burt Reynolds, Don Cheadle, John C. Reilly, William H. Macy, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Heather Graham — at their best,...

Fans of his work may revel in the high-concept surrealism of director Michel Gondry’s filmography, while other audiences not attuned to his style may find it abundantly aimless and self-referential. Either way you look, Gondry’s filmography, music video and commercial entries reflect the work of an undeniably smart, adventurous filmmaker. His latest film “Microbe & Gasoline” reflects a bit of a departure for the 53-year-old director: There are still houses on cars and planes flying backward, but unlike the fantasy intrinsic to films like “The Science of Sleep” or “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” this story involves two young teens (largely drawn from Gondry’s youth) constructing their dreams into reality for themselves.

What does it mean to show these dreams cinematically? How can a director get there? And how is the understated “Microbe & Gasoline” still as much a Michel Gondry movie as he’s ever made?

Last week,...

The way a film starts and the way it ends can tell a lot about a movie, as well as the particular style of the director behind the project. Numerous films throughout history have had memorable opening and closing shots that have elevated the feature in question, while also taking on a life of their own as iconic moments in cinema.

Following his first exploration of first and final frames in film, vimeo user Jacob T. Swinney has revisited the topic in a new video, looking at 70 new films and how their opening and closing mirror each other. Swinney had this to say in the episode description.

After numerous requests, I finally decided to create a sequel to “First and Final Frames”. Part II plays the opening and closing shots of 70 films side-by-side. Like the first video, some of the opening shots are strikingly similar to the final shots, while...

There’s a reason dream sequences are so common in movies: they’re a filmmaker’s paradise.

Anything can happen in a dream, so it makes sense that anything could happen in a movie dream as well. Whether the entire movie revolves around a state of dreaming or there’s only a dream sequence or two, dreams offer an opportunity to make an ordinary movie extraordinary.

This week sees the release of Before I Wake, a creepy-looking horror starring Kate Bosworth and Thomas Jane as parents who adopt a child with some creepy tendencies. Canadian Jacob Tremblay plays said child, whose dreams (and nightmares) manifest physically as he sleeps.

Not all movies involving dreams are scary, but they’re usually just a little different from your standard popcorn flick. Everything from Inception to Vanilla Sky made it onto this list, so take our quiz to see how well you know your movies involving dreams!

This week on Off The Shelf, Ryan is joined by Brian Saur to take a look at the new DVD and Blu-ray releases for the week of June 30th, 2015, and chat about some follow-up and home video news.

Subscribe in iTunes or RSS.

Episode Links & Notes Top 5 Of 2015 (So Far)

Brian

5. Wolfen (Warner Archive)

4. River’s Edge (Kl Studio Classics)

3. Sullivan’s Travels (Criterion)

2. Blood and Black Lace (Arrow)

1. Breaking Away (Twilight Time)

Honorable: Thunderbirds, The Fisher King, Zardoz, Last Embrace, Return to Oz.

Ryan

5. 3-D Rarities (Flicker Alley)

4. Journey To The Center Of The Earth Re-issue (Twilight Time)

3. Thunderbirds (Shout! Factory)

2. Classics From The Van Beuren Studio (Thunderbean Animation)

1. Watership Down (Criterion Collection)

Honorable mentions: Spirited Away, The Train (Arrow), Man With A Movie Camera

News Saturn Awards: Winners Announced New Releases 1990: The Bronx Warriors Come Fly with Me The Decline Of Western Civilization Collection Escape From the Bronx...

Vanilla Sky has finally come to Blu-ray. I repeat, Vanilla Sky has finally come to Blu-ray.

"15 New Movies to Watch at Home This Week" was originally published on Film School Rejects for our wonderful readers to enjoy. It is not intended to be reproduced on other websites. If you aren't reading this in your favorite RSS reader or on Film School Rejects, you're being bamboozled. We hope you'll come find us and enjoy the best articles about movies, television and culture right from the source.

Why It Works is an ongoing column which breaks down some of the most acclaimed films in history and explores what makes them so iconic, groundbreaking, and memorable. ****Spoilers Ahead**** For some reason, memory loss played a prominent role in several films around the turn of the century: The Bourne Identity, Mulholland Dr., 50 First Dates, X-men, Vanilla Sky, Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, and, of... Read More...

Amenábar returns to the genre stomping grounds of "Abre Los Ojos" (remade into "Vanilla Sky") and "The Others" in this thriller about a detective (Hawke) whose investigation of a young girl's (Watson) gravely serious accusations against her father (David Dencik) unearths a powerfully scary conspiracy. It's set in Minnesota, 1990. Hawke's Detective Bruce Kenner is aided by a psychologist (David Thewlis) who performs regression therapy on the father, also uncovering more unhappy memories. On board the creative team are "Pacific Rim" production designer Carol Spier, "The Last Days" Dp Daniel Aranyo and VFX supervisor Felix Berges ("The Impossible"). "Regression" doesn't hit Us theaters until August 28th, 2015 via TWC-Dimension.