News

Exclusive: Celebrating his 50th year as an indie filmmaker and distributor, Jeff Lipsky is prepping the release of his eighth feature as director. Goldilocks and the Two Bears is due to open domestically via Glass Half Full Media in July for a limited theatrical run, followed by a general release in late summer/early fall. Check out an exclusive clip above.

Goldilocks introduces a trio of new actors: Claire Milligan, Serra Naiman and Bryan Mittelstadt. It’s directed and written by Lipsky, produced by longtime collaborator Nick Athas and shot by Zak Ray with production sound mixed by Caleb Mose (O.J.: Made in America).

Filmed entirely in Las Vegas, the movie centers on a man and a woman – travelers who’ve all but given up on futures that might have been glorious. When a stranger enters their midst, a woman on the run from her own demons, the...

NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell said execs at the company and parent Comcast are “more confident” than they were a year or two ago that investments in streaming service Peacock will soon yield profits. How soon remains a bit unclear, however.

Related Story Peacock Clears 20M Subscribers, Helping Comcast Nip Wall Street Q4 Estimates Related Story 'Poker Face' Review: No Lie! Natasha Lyonne & Rian Johnson's Peacock Road Trip Procedural Is All Green Lights & Parking Spaces Related Story 'Dr. Death': Peacock Anthology Series Adds Five To Recurring Cast For Season 2

“We’ve been clear from the start that we’re going to see a return on that investment — I think we feel better about that now based on where we are,” Shell said during Comcast’s fourth-quarter earnings call.

The company said Peacock had passed 20 million subscribers by the end of 2022, more than double its size at the start of the year.

Paul Dano has been a professional actor since age 12 when he appeared in a 1996 Broadway revival of "Inherit the Wind" with Charles Durning and George C. Scott. In film, Dano broke out in 2001 playing the lead role in Michael Cuesta's hard-hitting sexual drama "L.I.E." opposite Brian Cox in a career-best performance. Since then, Dano has made a career playing intense outsiders and occasional weirdos in a long string of highly acclaimed dramas. His appearance as a mute, Nietzsche-obsessed teen in 2006's "Little Miss Sunshine" was a highlight in a film full of them, and his oddball turn as a not-so-timid preacher in Paul Thomas Anderson's "There Will Be Blood" was gloriously off-center. As an actor, he has worked with Ang Lee, Spike Jonze, Kelly Reichardt, Paolo Sorrentino, Denis Villeneuve, Steve McQueen, and Bong Joon-ho.

To date, Dano has directed one feature film: 2018's "Wildlife," based on the 1990 novel...

[Editor’s Note: The following review contains spoilers for “Black Bird” Season 1, Episode 5, “Where I Lie.”]

There’s only one more episode of “Black Bird” and, honestly, it’s hard to figure out how this show is going to stick the landing. We’ve seen other networks pare down their series from 10 episodes to eight, but trying to clear up a story in six? Right now it doesn’t feel as if everything will be satisfyingly closed by next week, especially after the brutal gut punch that is this week’s episode, “Where I Lie.”

The world of “Black Bird” has been fairly insular. It’s behind the walls of Springfield prison with Jimmy (Taron Egerton) and Larry (Paul Walter Hauser). Or it’s outside with Detectives Miller (Greg Kinnear) and MacCauley (Sepideh Moafi). Occasionally, we check in on Jimmy’s dad, Big Jim (Ray Liotta). But as we get closer to the end, the lines of reality are...

In the week before the publication of Bob Woodward and Robert Costa’s Peril, many of its juiciest revelations already had made headlines.

Sans any kind of spoiler alert, there were the calls that General Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, gave to assure his Chinese counter part despite an erratic President Donald Trump. There also was former Vice President Dan Quayle counseling Vice President Mike Pence that no, he didn’t have the power to reject electors during the Jan. 6 vote count, despite Trump’s relentless pressure to do more.

But despite the pre-publication buzz surrounding Peril, fairly typical for a Woodward bombshell, some of the minor items still are revelatory.

One that stands out, oddly enough, is Trump’s apparently realization that his tweets weren’t necessarily helping him.

The scene in the book, which came out Tuesday, is a post-inauguration meeting at Mar-a-Lago...

Following the announcement that Golden Globe and Academy Award nominee Adriana Barraza will star as Lupita in Gigi Saul Guerrero's new movie Bingo, it's now been revealed that Joshua Caleb Johnson has joined the cast as Caleb in the film that's part of Blumhouse and Amazon's new "Welcome to the Blumhouse" lineup:

Joshua Caleb Johnson has been cast in Bingo, the upcoming film in the Welcome to the Blumhouse slate from Blumhouse Television and Amazon Studios, directed and co-written by Gigi Saul Guerrero, currently in production.

He will star as the character of “Caleb”, a teenager being raised by a single mother and living in his grandmother Dolores’ home, torn between his anger at the tough hand he’s been dealt in life and longing for connection, love and acceptance.

Johnson received acclaim and is nominated for a Critics Choice Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Limited Series...

Exclusive: Veteran indie executive and filmmaker Jeff Lipsky is hooking up with Kino Lorber to launch The Jeff Lipsky Collection on growing streaming service Kino Now. The collection, which becomes available on March 5, will include five out of seven of Lipsky’s directing efforts dating from 2006-2019. Other filmmakers who are similarly represented with Kino Now Auteur Collections include Jean-Luc Godard, Lina Wertmüller, Derek Jarman, István Szabó and F.W. Murnau.

On the Lipsky roster are Flannel Pajamas (2006), a relationship story co-starring Julianne Nicholson and Justin Kirk; family drama Twelve Thirty (2011), starring Jonathan Groff; surreal comedy Molly’s Theory Of Relativity (2013) with Sophia Takal and Lawrence Michael Levine; character study Mad Women (2015), co-starring Reed Birney and Jamie Harrold; and Holocaust-themed family drama The Last (2019), starring Rebecca Schull. Lipsky hopes to add his first film, 1997’s The End, to the collection as soon as its restoration is complete.

Says Lipsky, “Being inducted...

Hipgs don’t lie. Shakira has sold the publishing rights to her catalog to Hipgnosis Songs Fund, the company announced early Wednesday morning — the latest in CEO Merck Mercuriadis’s prolific shopping spree for major stars’ music rights. Hipgnosis bought the entirety of Shakira’s publishing rights for her 145-song catalog, which includes hits such as “Hips Don’t Lie,” “Whenever, Wherever,” “She Wolf,” and “Waka Waka.” The company didn’t disclose financial details of the sale.

“I know Hipgnosis will be a great home for my catalog,” the singer said in a statement.

The preternatural powerhouses known as BTS have given us spectacle and showmanship before, but on their latest album, Be, the seven-piece group from Korea are showing off their versatility.

Nowhere is that more evident than on “Fly to My Room,” the second track off the new album. Co-written by Rm, Suga, and J-Hope, the song rides a sparse, laid-back groove that really hits the pocket once the chorus kicks in. “Come on now, let me fly to my room/Get me outta my blues/And now I’m feelin’ brand new,...

Image Source:

Amazon Studios

Blumhouse's The Lie, which premiered on Amazon Prime Video on Oct. 6, stars Joey King as Kayla, a teenage girl who drags her parents into a web of lies due to a lethal mistake. When it comes to horror movies, I pride myself on the fact that I can usually see a twist coming. The Lie is one of the few films that really surprised me when the twist is finally revealed at the end. What makes this particular twist so devastating is King's portrayal of Kayla, which has the audience wondering whether they should feel empathy for her or see her as a monster. It also helps that as Kayla's parents, Peter Sarsgaard and Mireille Enos, give a slow-burn performance that keeps you on edge as you wait to see how everything will unravel.

The Setup

On the way to a ballet camp, Kayla and her father,...

Starting today, fans can check out the first two films of the Welcome to the Blumhouse collection which have officially arrived on Amazon Prime Video: Black Box and The Lie. In the latter, we’re introduced to an angsty teen named Kayla (Joey King), who admits to accidentally killing one of her friends, and her divorced parents (Peter Sarsgaard and Mireille Enos) must provide a united front as they try to figure out just how exactly they’re going to handle this unthinkable predicament.

Daily Dead recently had the opportunity to speak with Veena Sud, who directed The Lie and wrote the screenplay, and she discussed how this remake initially came together. Sud also chatted about the timeliness of The Lie, the family dynamics at the heart of this story, and more.

Great to speak with you today, Veena. Was this something that Blumhouse approached you for, or was this...

"It's your brain trying to protect you from your trauma." It's almost horror season! A few more weeks until October, and Hollywood is readying a big batch of new horror films to debut this season (for everyone to watch in the safety of their own homes). Amazon has released separate full trailers for the first four films in the horror anthology series Welcome to the Blumhouse. The series will launch eight full-length genre films from talented up-and-coming filmmakers, produced by Jason Blum, and released on Amazon Prime Video. The first four films will be available to watch this October: Black Box directed by Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour Jr., Evil Eye co-directed by Elan Dassani & Rajeev Dassani, The Lie directed by Veena Sud, and Nocturne directed by Zu Quirke. A new "series of unique, unsettling thrillers, that showcase original genre stories from diverse casts and filmmakers." Personally, I'm most interested in watching Black Box,...

Welcome to the Blumhouse is set to unveil an unsettling small screen cinematic experience for Amazon Prime Video subscribers from the safety and (dis)comfort of their own homes.

Blumhouse Television and Amazon Studios have teamed up to conjure Welcome to the Blumhouse, a collection of all-new, diversely-themed, brand-unified films from the eponymous fabricators of film frights, arriving just in time for a Halloween season that—unprecedentedly—won’t likely involve trick-or-treating. The first four in a total of eight films will have dual premieres on Amazon Prime Video across two weeks, starting on October 6, with Black Box and Evil Eye, followed by The Lie and Nocturne on October 13. Indeed, while the horror anthology series concept has experienced a resurgence in recent years, Blumhouse has upped the ante with a franchise of full-length horror anthology films.

Welcome to the Blumhouse Trailers

With their announcement of the Welcome to the Blumhouse collection,...

Last month, Amazon Prime Video officially announced "Welcome to the Blumhouse," which will feature eight new genre films. It all kicks off with the first four films being released right in time for Halloween and we have a look at the brand new trailer:

Previously: "Amazon Prime Video announced today “Welcome to the Blumhouse”, a program of eight unsettling, genre movies produced by Jason Blum’s Blumhouse Television and Amazon Studios. Sharing the spine-tingling suspense that’s a Blumhouse signature, each film presents a distinctive vision and unique perspective on common themes centered around family and love as redemptive or destructive forces. This slate marks the first ever program of Amazon Original movies on Prime Video that are thematically connected. The films showcase exciting up-and-coming talent, alongside established actors in exceptional and shocking new roles. “Welcome to the Blumhouse” will launch in October, timed for the Halloween season, on Prime...

Vinessa Shaw has signed on to co-star opposite Dermot Mulroney in Carlson Young’s directorial debut thriller, The Blazing World, as production prepares to commence outside of Austin, Texas this month. Based on Young’s 2018 Sundance Film Festival short of the same name, the film follows a self-destructive young woman who decades after the accidental drowning of her twin sister, returns to her family home, finding herself drawn to an alternate dimension where her sister may still be alive. Young co-wrote the screenplay with Pierce Brown and will also co-star along with Udo Kier. Brinton Bryan of Greenbelt Films is handling the financing and is producing the pic with Elizabeth Avellán and Rana Joy Glickman of TealHouse Entertainment. Executive producers are Andrew Carlberg, and Ted Field and Justin Smith of Radar Pictures. Shaw, who can next be seen starring opposite Luke Wilson, Martin Sheen...

The star, Alexandra Daddario, the writer, Alan Trezza, and the director, Marc Meyers, of the terrific new film We Summon The Darkness walk us through some of their favorite movies.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

We Summon The Darkness (2020)

Burying The Ex (2015)

The Little Mermaid (1989)

Moulin Rouge! (2001)

American Beauty (1999)

Strictly Ballroom (1992)

Ghostbusters (1984)

The Sound of Music (1965)

L.A. Story (1991)

Ghost Dad (1990)

Looney Tunes: Back In Action (2003)

Roxanne (1987)

The Godfather (1972)

The Godfather Part II (1974)

The Godfather Part III (1990)

Fargo (1996)

The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs (2018)

Psycho (1960)

Psycho (1998)

Defending Your Life (1991)

Modern Romance (1981)

The Jerk (1979)

Jaws (1975)

Notting Hill (1999)

Four Weddings And A Funeral (1994)

When Harry Met Sally… (1989)

Love Actually (2003)

Marley & Me (2008)

Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)

World’s Greatest Dad (2009)

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

Raging Bull (1980)

Mandy (2018)

Heathers (1988)

Ed Wood (1994)

Hellzapoppin’ (1941)

Fletch (1985)

Beverly Hills Cop (1984)

Batman Returns (1992)

Warlock (1989)

Beetlejuice (1988)

Star Wars (1977)

Sixteen Candles (1984)

The Swimmer (1968)

Sherman’s March (1985)

Amadeus (1984)

Amarcord (1974)

Hugo Pool (1997)

Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills...

Cleveland defensive end Myles Garrett is no longer suspended by the National Football League for his part in a helmet-swinging brawl on national TV.

But another TV spot by Garrett could find him again in legal trouble. During an ESPN interview earlier this week, Garrett claimed that Pittsburgh quarterback Mason Rudolph called him “a stupid N-word” during a fight at the end of the November game between Cleveland and Pittsburgh, causing Garrett to lose control and swing his 6-pound helmet, hitting Rudolph on the head.

“1000% False,” Rudolph tweeted Saturday regarding the allegations and after the ESPN interview aired. “Bold-Faced Lie. I did not, have not, and would not utter a racial-slur. This is a disgusting and reckless attempt to assassinate my character.”

Garrett claimed the racial slur was uttered when the two brawled. Rudolph was being sacked by Garrett with eight seconds left in Cleveland’s 21-7 win on Nov.

For we awards-obsessed writers and editors at Gold Derby, the Golden Globe Awards are the official launch of a winter full of trophies, surprises, snubs, red carpets, acceptance speeches, tear-inducing emotion and forgettably cringe-worthy moments. What better way to celebrate than to watch celebrities drink and mingle while fancy statues are handed out to the best in film and television by about 90 foreign journalists who make up the Hollywood Foreign Press Association?

But some moments are better than others. Below, read our collective thoughts on the highs, lows, and Wtf moments of Sunday’s kudoscast. And check out the complete list of winners here.

See 2020 Golden Globes telecast review: Ricky Gervais’s blistering barbs provide a nice balance to a funny and often somber ceremony

Good

Tom Hanks gave one of the most delightful and heartfelt speeches one could hope for. He reminded everyone why he is one of the most beloved figures in Hollywood.

It’s been nearly two decades since Brian Cox was last nominated for a Golden Globe. Now, not only does he look like he’s on track to get nominated again but he could be a very big threat to win his first career Globe as Best TV Drama Actor for Season 2 of HBO’s “Succession.”

“Succession” is in a perfect position to garner some major love from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Last year the show only netted a single nomination for Kieran Culkin in Best TV Supporting Actor. Since then, the show has exploded with its second season and Cox has been a huge part of that. His portrayal of family patriarch Logan Roy has become a deliciously menacing character that’s among the best on television, whether he’s telling someone to “F*** off!” or screaming “Boar On The Floor!”

SEEBrian Cox (‘Succession’): Logan Roy is like ‘Titus Andronicus,...

In the sensitive, suburbia-set indie “Driveways,” a single mother drags her 8-year-old son cross-country to empty out the house of her packrat older sister, newly deceased. It’s a chore for her, but an opportunity for the kid to do a bit of growing up, courtesy of the Korean War veteran living next door. At first, the old fella watches the newcomers with suspicion, deciding whether to help, or to go all Clint-Eastwood-in-“Gran Torino” on them and growl, “Get off my lawn!” But in time, the initially standoffish man reaches out in a gesture of neighborly goodwill, revealing “Driveways” to be that uncommon and all-too-welcome gift — like some kind of fragile wildflower, emerging tentatively through cracks in the concrete: a film about kindness.

Of course, there are other themes at play, including small but affecting insights into the immigrant experience and single motherhood, but it’s the bond connecting...

Directing your first feature is always a daunting experience, but it’s hard to imagine that anyone has ever been better prepared for that particular challenge than Paul Dano. Familiar to audiences as one of the most compelling and accomplished actors of his generation, the 34-year-old New York native has spent the last two decades attending the greatest film school on Earth.

Only the Criterion Collection has collaborated with more of modern cinema’s top auteurs: Richard Linklater, Spike Jonze, Ang Lee, Paul Thomas Anderson, Kelly Reichardt, Steve McQueen, Bong Joon-ho, Denis Villeneuve, So Yong Kim, Rian Johnson, etc. He’s the only person on the planet who’s done a stint on “The Sopranos,” worked with Tom Cruise, and starred in an unexpectedly emotional movie about a farting corpse (“Swiss Army Man”).

Read More: ‘Wildlife’ Review: Carey Mulligan Is on Fire in Paul Dano’s Stunningly Beautiful Directorial Debut — Sundance 2018

Needless to say,...

Wildlife

We’ve been charting his perfs well before the likes of Reichardt and PTA brought him in as a supporting character, Paul Dano who has given us the riches of Michael Cuesta’s L.I.E., Little Miss Sunshine and So Yong Kim’s For Ellen. Based on the novel by Richard Ford, Dano teamed with his partner Zoe Kazan to adapt the project, and production took place in the fall of 2016 in Montana and Oklahoma.

Jake Gyllenhaal, Carey Mulligan and Ed Oxenbould take on the three-legged tale centering around 14-year-old Joe, who is the only child of Jeanette and Jerry—a housewife and a golf pro—in a small town in 1960s Montana. Nearby, an uncontrolled forest fire rages close to the Canadian border, and when Jerry loses his job—and his sense of purpose—he decides to join the cause of fighting the fire, leaving his wife and son to fend for themselves.

While the world contemplates a nuclear-armed North Korea, is a thriller about a rogue nuke the sort of entertainment people are looking for? When it’s as faux-political as American Assassin, the answer just might be yes. Built for action, like its title character, the movie packs a muscular, bloody punch, but mainly it’s a well-oiled diversion.

Director Michael Cuesta, operating more in the vein of his work on Homeland than such features as L.I.E. and Kill the Messenger, proves impressively deft at orchestrating large-scale sequences. The globe-hopping story of covert U.S. operatives zeroing in on terrorist factions and renegade mercenaries...

This American Assassin action thriller actually looks like it could be a great film that has potential to be a solid new franchise. We've got two new trailers for you to watch today for the movie, one of which is a red-band trailer. I really like what I'm seeing in these trailers and it doesn't hurt that the movie features a talented cast of actors.

American Assassin follows the rise of Mitch Rapp (Dylan O’Brien), a CIA black ops recruit under the instruction of Cold War veteran Stan Hurley (Michael Keaton). The pair is then enlisted by CIA Deputy Director Irene Kennedy (Sanaa Lathan) to investigate a wave of apparently random attacks on both military and civilian targets. Together the three discover a pattern in the violence leading them to a joint mission with a lethal Turkish agent (Shiva Negar) to stop a mysterious operative (Taylor Kitsch) intent...

American Assassin isn’t showing up until next year, but there’s great hope that a new franchise is in the making. With Dylan O’Brien playing a CIA black ops recruit (aka… apparently, assassin) being trained by Michael Keaton, this one should have the potential to pull in audiences. That’s before you even get to the popular book series the film is based on.

O’Brien needs to pull off a bit more depth than we’ve seen from him in his Ya novel efforts, but given that he is meant to be a young recruit, and given the rich possibilities of the character as spelled out in the books, this one could be the next big deal.

The film has released some new sneak peek images to start you on the road to excitement. Take a look below, and make sure you keep this one on your radar.

CBS Films has released the first look at Dylan O'Brien as Mitch Rapp in American Assassin. 

American Assassin follows the rise of Mitch Rapp (Dylan O'Brien) a CIA black ops recruit under the instruction of Cold War veteran Stan Hurley (Michael Keaton). The pair is then enlisted by CIA Deputy Director Irene Kennedy (Sanaa Lathan) to investigate a wave of apparently random attacks on both military and civilian targets. Together the three discover a pattern in the violence leading them to a joint mission with a lethal Turkish agent (Shiva Negar) to stop a mysterious operative (Taylor Kitsch) intent on starting a World War in the Middle East.

The film is being directed by acclaimed filmmaker Michael Cuesta (Kill The Messenger, Homeland, L.I.E.) from a screenplay by Stephen Schiff (The Americans, Ultimate Rush). 

Published by Atria Books and in mass market paperback by Pocket Books, both imprints of Simon & Schuster,...

Catch this first look at Dylan O’Brien as Mitch Rapp in American Assassin.

American Assassin follows the rise of Mitch Rapp (Dylan O’Brien) a CIA black ops recruit under the instruction of Cold War veteran Stan Hurley (Michael Keaton). The pair is then enlisted by CIA Deputy Director Irene Kennedy (Sanaa Lathan) to investigate a wave of apparently random attacks on both military and civilian targets. Together the three discover a pattern in the violence leading them to a joint mission with a lethal Turkish agent (Shiva Negar) to stop a mysterious operative (Taylor Kitsch) intent on starting a World War in the Middle East.

The film is being directed by filmmaker Michael Cuesta (Kill The Messenger, Homeland, L.I.E.) from a screenplay by Stephen Schiff (The Americans, Ultimate Rush).

Published by Atria Books and in mass market paperback by Pocket Books, both imprints of Simon & Schuster, American Assassin...

There has been a lot of talk about the adaptation of Vince Flynn’s American Assassin, much of it obviously because the Mitch Rapp franchise of books has done exceedingly well, but also because the casting news has made people wonder.

Fans of the series have wondered about Maze Runner star, Dylan O’Brien filling the role, but were apparently just as quick to hold out hope with Michael Keaton on board.

CBS Films and Lionsgate have now announced two more actors, and their roles, which rounds out the main players in the film.

Sanaa Lathan will play Irene Kennedy, the CIA Deputy Director who puts Rapp and his mentor, Stan Hurley (Keaton), on the case in question, and Shiva Negar is the Turkish agent who puts them onto the mysterious operative (Taylor Kitsch) who is apparently behind trying to kick off a war in the Middle East.

Sanaa Lathan...

Bs Films and Lionsgate (NYSE: Lgf) announced today that Sanaa Lathan (The Perfect Guy, Now You See Me 2) and Shiva Negar (Four In The Morning, The Art Of More) are joining Dylan O’Brien (Deepwater Horizon, The Maze Runner), Academy Award®-nominee Michael Keaton (Birdman, Spotlight) and Taylor Kitsch (Lone Survivor, True Detective) in the adaptation of Vince Flynn’s massive bestseller American Assassin. Acclaimed filmmaker Michael Cuesta (Kill The Messenger, Homeland, L.I.E.) will direct the thriller from a screenplay by Stephen Schiff (The Americans, Ultimate Rush). Lorenzo di Bonaventura (Transformers, Deepwater Horizon, Salt) and Nick Wechsler (The Road, Magic Mike) are producing the film. American Assassin follows the rise of Mitch Rapp (Dylan O’Brien) a CIA black ops recruit under the instruction of Cold War veteran Stan Hurley (Michael Keaton). The pair is then enlisted by CIA Deputy Director Irene Kennedy (Sanaa Lathan) to investigate a wave...

Academy Award-nominee Michael Keaton (Birdman, Spotlight) will star in the adaptation of Vince Flynn’s massive bestseller American Assassin.

Michael Cuesta (Kill The Messenger, Homeland, L.I.E.) will direct the thriller from a screenplay by Stephen Schiff (The Americans, Ultimate Rush). Lorenzo di Bonaventura (Transformers, Deepwater Horizon, Red) and Nick Wechsler (The Road, Magic Mike) are producing the film.

Cold War veteran Stan Hurley (Keaton) would be the most feared training officer in the CIA if more than a handful of people at the agency knew that he existed. As American Assassin begins, Deputy Director Irene Kennedy tasks Hurley with training Mitch Rapp, a black ops recruit devastated by the loss of his fiancée to a terrorist attack. As Rapp’s training progresses, the pair is dispatched on a joint mission with a lethal Turkish agent to stop a mysterious operative from starting World War III in the Middle East.

Published...

In the 1980s, the CIA was complicit in the marketing of Nicaraguan cocaine to lower class Californians in order to fund the country’s Contra rebels. This was a thesis that San Jose Mercury News journalist Gary Webb put out into the world in the late 90s, and was eventually destroyed because of it. The new film Kill the Messenger is Webb’s own story, a “David vs. Goliath” tale in which David is crushed and ruined by forces that can spin the media in their own favor, while easily discrediting the blood-sweat-tears efforts of a reporter who had to keep many of his sources anonymous.

Director Michael Cuesta creates a vivid portrayal of Webb (played by Jeremy Renner) presenting him as a dedicated working man and also a conflicted father. Kill the Messenger becomes more than the story of a media victim, but a patriarch who tries to maintain...

Chicago – What happens when too much truth is exposed, and those who will feel the backlash from that exposure are too powerful? The new film “Kill the Messenger,” directed by Michael Cuesta, seeks an answer to that question through the true story of journalist Gary Webb, a victim of his own investigative reporting.

Jeremy Renner portrays Webb, a newspaperman for the smaller market San Jose Mercury News. Webb discovers a connection between the influx of crack cocaine into U.S, inner cities during the 1980s and the CIA-backed Contra rebels in Central America Nicaragua. His reporting opens a Pandora’s Box of implications, including his employment, family and the competitiveness of bigger newspapers, who missed the story. Webb’s life becomes a surreal nightmare, just because he kept the truth alive.

Michael Cuesta Directs Jeremy Renner (left) in ‘Kill the Messenger’

Photo credit: Focus Features

The director of “Kill the Messenger” is Michael Cuesta,...

Crack is Whack: Cuesta Revisits Contras Affair as Political Thriller

Though he has several films under his belt, director Michael Cuesta has probably made more of an impression in television over the past decade, though that may change with the reception of his latest, Kill the Messenger, a smartly layered tale based on a media minefield from the mid 1990s. Presented as a mixture of journalistic woe and political conspiracy, a brightly scrubbed cast and a tightly wound pace manage to make the best use of its running time, even though the material could have afforded to take more time to justifiably mine the depths of its implications. But, based on two books, one of them by the deceased journalist at the center of the tale, Cuesta stays true to a specific point of view to concoct an unnerving exploration of a matter swept too conveniently under the rug.

Gary Webb...

After directing such television as Dexter, Six Feet Under and, most recently, Homeland, helmer Michael Cuesta (L.I.E.) is back with a new drama and today we have the first trailer. Led by Jeremy Renner, Kill the Messenger follows the true story of a journalist, Gary Webb, who, in 1996, asserted the C.I.A was involved in crack cocaine importation to California. Sadly, (and spoilers, […]...

Remember that guy, Jeremy Renner? Haven't seen much of him lately. Apparently, between filming Avengers movies and restarting the Bourne franchise, the Oscar-nominated actor found time to make a little movie called Kill The Messenger. But, before you write it off as a little indie flick that will go unnoticed, check out the trailer below. Kill The Messenger comes from director Michael Cuesta who is best known as a television director but also helmed the brilliant L.I.E. back in 2001....

Ahead of tomorrow's Independent Spirit Awards, SnagFilms has curated a selection of past Spirit Award nominees available to stream for free online. Titles include "The Woodsman," starring Kevin Bacon in his nominated role, Paul Dano's big breakthrough film "L.I.E.," nominated for Best Film and "Bill Cunningham New York," nominated in the Best Documentary Feature category. Read More: Stream 33 Oscar Nominees and Winners for Free on SnagFilmsThe Spirit Awards, hosted by Patton Oswalt, air March 1 at 10pm Et/Pt on IFC. Stream the films below. [Full Disclosure: SnagFilms' is Indiewire's parent company.]...

Kill the Messenger

Director: Michael Cuesta

Writer: Peter Landesman

Producers: Pamela Abdy, Naomi Despres, Jeremy Renner, Scott Stuber

U.S. Distributor: Focus Features

Cast: Jeremy Renner, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Michael Sheen, Michael K. Williams, Robert Patrick, Ray Liotta, Barry Pepper, Andy Garcia, Paz Vega, Rosemarie DeWitt, Tim Blake Nelson, Oliver Platt, Jena Sims, Lucas Hedges, Richard Schiff, Yul Vazquez

We know him as the director behind indie nuggets such as L.I.E., hotel room splendor of 12 and Holding and more recently, Roadie, so after a mostly low-budget indie filmography Michael Cuesta cross over into bigger budget big leagues is due to a successful stint on Homeland. Kill the Messenger sounds like compelling material, and sports and impressive ensemble cast, and we’re banking that visually it’ll pay dividends with cinematographer Sean Bobbitt who is currently at the top of his game.

Gist: Based on the novel by Nick Schou and...

“You see things; and you say ‘Why?’ But I dream things that never were; and I say ‘Why not?’”

George Bernard Shaw

“Back to Methuselah” (1921)

President Barak Obama is a visionary. Which is great. It’s important for the President of the United States to be a visionary, to be able to inspire. That’s how Barak Obama became President in 2008.

But once elected, it’s not enough to be a visionary. You need to know how to put that vision into effect.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy knew how to do that. Ronald Wilson Reagan knew how to do that.

President Barak Obama – and I can’t believe I’m saying this – does not.

The Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare, is in real trouble. The website is a disaster – where is Oracle when we need her? – and those who have been able to sign up are finding that their...

Sometimes with younger actors it takes time to recognize how consistent is the quality of their performances. There's a lot of drek out there--think about all the indie actors who wind up in movies nobody wants to see. On the other hand New York actor Paul Dano, now 29, keeps scoring memorably juicy roles, and has done so from his Broadway debut at age 12 in a revival of "Inherit the Wind" and his collaboration with Ethan Hawke on "Things We Want," through his first film performance at age 16 in Sundance hit "L.I.E.," opposite Brian Cox. He went on to strong roles in "Little Miss Sunshine," "Meek's Cutoff," "Cowboys & Aliens," "Looper," "The Ballad of Jack and Rose," where he first met Daniel Day-Lewis, his eventual co-star on "There Will Be Blood," And then there's terrific indie romance he made with his girlfriend and co-star Zoe Kazan, who also wrote "Ruby Sparks," directed...

A few years back, I watched a pilot for a show called Babylon Fields directed by Michael Cuesta (L.I.E., “Six Feet Under”,12 and Holding, “Dexter”) and was blown away. This was prior to The Walking Dead but still took a similar premise from a 2004 French film, They Came Back. They Came Back (Original title: Les Revenants) was used as the basis for the latest French television series The Returned. Turns out The Returned is actually getting an American television adaptation on A&E via Lost‘s Carlton Cuse. Since zombies are hot, hot, hot, it has caused some reconsideration about the Babylon Fields property over at NBC.

According to Deadline, NBC has put an order for a new pilot for Babylon Fields with Michael Cuesta, his brother Gerald Cuesta and Michael Atkinson – all of which are the original creators. Originally, CBS previously passed on a series order of Babylon Fields...

Jason Lee is eyeing a new gig with CBS's "Second Sight" pilot. The former "My Name Is Earl" star will lead the detective drama, which hails from "Homeland" executive producer Michael Cuesta. Also read: "Beverly Hills Cop" Among 3 CBS Pilots Based on the British series of the same name by Paula Milne, the gothic psychological thriller centers on a detective who is suddenly afflicted with an autoimmune virus that causes hallucinations reflective of his subconscious. Cuesta is writing, directing and executive producing the pilot, with Gerald Cuesta ("L.I.E.") also writing and executive producing.

A grip of pilot castings came down the pike on Tuesday, and below you can find a brief roundup of each: - "My Name Is Earl" alum Jason Lee will star in CBS' "Second Sight," a crime drama about a New Orleans detective cursed with an ocular disorder that causes him to experience terrifying visions - described by his doctor as "signposts from his subconscious." Written by Michael and Gerald Cuesta ("L.I.E."), the pilot is based on the British series of the same name that starred Clive Owen. [EW] - Michael Pena ("End of Watch") has signed on for Fox drama...

Here's your three-day box office returns (new releases bolded): 1. Identity Thief - $36.5 million 2. Warm Bodies - $11.5 million 3. Side Effects - $10.0 million 4. Silver Linings Playbook - $6.9 million 5. Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters - $5.7 million 6. Mama - $4.3 million 7. Zero Dark Thirty - $4.0 million 8. Argo - $2.5 million 9 . Django Unchained - $2.2 million 10. Bullet to the Head - $1.9 million The Big Stories If you were Steven Soderbergh looking at the box office numbers this week, you would likely want to retire, too. Sure, the eastern parts of the U.S. got about 17 feet of snow from Nemo and we can look to put the blame on that. But it only further advances that the same people stupid enough to get stuck on the Long Island Expressway...

Read More...

The following post contains spoilers for October 7th's episode of "Homeland," "Beirut is Back." Showtime's newly Emmy-approved thriller "Homeland" is only two episodes into its second season, but this past Sunday's installment had some viewers crying foul about plausibility. Directed by Michael Cuesta ("L.I.E.") and written by Chip Johannessen, "Beirut Is Back" takes up with Carrie (Claire Danes) in Lebanon, where she meets up with the former asset she was brought to the country to handle at a mosque -- Fatima Ali, the unhappy, abused wife of a Hezbollah district commander. Fatima promises information in exchange for five million dollars and a plane ticket to Detroit -- and the info is juicy indeed. Abu Nazir (Navid Negahban) is meeting up with her husband in Beirut the next day: "You can kill them both," she suggests, calmly. What unfolds after this is an episode that's wound tight...

Ever since breaking out as a troubled teen in "L.I.E.," Paul Dano has proved himself to be one of the best actors of his generation by going toe-to-toe with acting titans like Daniel Day-Lewis (in "There Will Be Blood"), Kevin Kline (in "The Extra Man") Robert De Niro (in "Being Flynn") and Harrison Ford (in "Cowboys & Aliens"), while still managing to leave a lasting impression. In So Yong Kim's bleak character study "For Ellen" (out this Friday in select theaters and on VOD), the Brooklynite goes solo as a troubled rocker, and comes out with a performance that rivals some of the best from the actors he's worked alongside over the course of his eclectic career. Donning a black leather jacket, eye liner and tight jeans, Dano plays Joby Taylor, a divorced rocker, who at the outset of Kim's drama agrees to sign divorce papers for his estranged wife...

One of the busier actors in show business has to be twenty-eight year-old Paul Dano. Having turned heads in the moody indie “L.I.E.” when he was only sixteen years old, it was only years later before he was able to stand toe-to-toe with Daniel Day-Lewis in “There Will Be Blood,” cementing his status as a fresh face that wasn’t going anywhere. His latest role is in “For Ellen,” where he plays a rock musician struggling to regain custody of his daughter. However, one look at what’s happened to the others films he’s been linked to in recent months casts a clearer picture of just how in demand he has been, and how opportunities can sometimes fall by the wayside for a variety of reasons. Recently, Dano had to drop out of “Night Moves,” the Kelly Reichardt picture where he would have played the leader of a group of eco-terrorists.

Following his break-out in L.I.E., Paul Dano hit a larger base with The Girl Next Door and Little Miss Sunshine, but the There Will Be Blood actor has mostly been reserved for supporting roles in blockbusters like Knight and Day and Cowboys & Aliens. This year has seen a new side for him though, as he led Being Flynn, Ruby Sparks and now we have the first trailer for his next upcoming feature, For Ellen.

Directed by So Yong Kim, the film premiered to decent reviews at Sundance, mostly praising our lead’s performance. Judging for the trailer it looks a bit too low-key, drab and spare to throw around much other praise, but it’s nice to see Dano a bit unhinged. Napoleon Dynamite‘s Jon Heder also occupies a supporting role, departing his usual self and taking more of a serious turn. Check it out below and look for...

50 Cent thinks his injuries from a recent car accident could have been worse if he wasn't travelling in a bulletproof vehicle. The 'Candy Shop' rapper was hospitalised last month after his SUV collided with a Mack Truck on the Long Island Expressway. 50 Cent spoke out about the collision, revealing that the driver of the other vehicle 'lost control' because 'his load shifted'. He told MTV News: 'He tried to brake, his load shifted and he lost control and he ran into the back of [my] truck. 'It did more damage to the Mack Truck than it did to my truck, because I've got a level six - it's a bulletproof vehicle. It's the same standard as what they're...

50 Cent has suggested that he was helped in a recent car accident because he was travelling in a bulletproof vehicle. The rapper was hospitalised last month after his SUV collided with a Mack Truck on the Long Island Expressway. 50 Cent has now spoken about the accident with MTV News, revealing that the driver of the other vehicle "lost control" because "his load shifted". "He tried to brake, his load shifted and he lost control and he ran into the back of [my] truck," he said. "It did more damage to the Mack Truck than it did to my truck, because (more)...

New York, June 27: Singer 50 cent, who was hospitalised following a car crash, has been discharged.

According to a fan site Thisis50.com, the accident took place Tuesday on the Long Island expressway, New York and the 36-year-old singer was immediately rushed to the hospital after his SUV collided with a truck.

"He was taken to New York Hospital Queens where he was treated for minor neck and back injuries. He was released this morning (Wednesday) and is doing fine," his.