One of the last movies we’d ever link to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is Showgirls. The Razzies, sure, but the Oscars? But the much-derided film is finally getting some due, with a special 35mm screening at the Academy Museum this week. Yes, it sold out.

Elizabeth Berkley – who played aspiring dancer Nomi in the 1995 movie – made a speech at the Showgirls screening, cheekily telling the audience, “So tonight I’d like to thank the Academy…Museum.” She went on to note the importance of the story that its initial audience missed, expressing her gratitude to those that have continued to support the movie nearly 30 years on. “[Showgirls] really pushed the boundaries at that time that now have been embraced — not misunderstood but truly embraced. And I’m so grateful that the film has found its way not only in your hearts but especially the LGBTQ community…You stood by the film…You always believed as did I and for that I’m eternally grateful.”

What’s most incredible is that those who have come to love Showgirls don’t necessarily watch it as a so-bad-it’s-good movie. OK, so the acting remains absolutely dreadful and plenty laughable at its lowest points, but Showgirls – for all of its campy glory – is actually an overall well-crafted movie with energetic direction from Paul Verhoeven and cinematography that bleeds neon and sequins.

And the Academy isn’t the only prestigious group to be recognizing Showgirls as of late, as The Criterion Channel featured it in their “And The Razzie Goes To…” retrospective. We don’t see Freddy Got Fingered screening at the Academy Museum! While newfound genuine appreciation for Showgirls is welcome, it will always be that Razzies darling to most. It would go on to win seven Golden Raspberries, later being named the Worst Picture of the Decade. Paul Verhoeven made awards history when he became the first person to accept his statue in person, showing that the cast and crew has always been loyal to the movie.

If you like Showgirls, I also recommend the 2019 documentary You Don’t Nomi, which does its part in putting a new light on the film.

How do you feel about Showgirls in 2024? Do you genuinely love it or is it as bad as the consensus says?

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Oscar-winning actor Cillian Murphy is ready to don his razor blade hat again as the gang boss Tommy Shelby for a Peaky Blinders movie. The BBC/Netflix follow-up film is finally coming together, with plans to shoot in September, says Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight. Speaking with Birmingham World, Knight confirmed Murphy’s return for the anticipated project, saying cameras will roll later this year in Digbeth, England.

Peaky Blinders got its start on BBC Two before migrating to BBC One. With enough time, Netflix hosted the show on its streaming network, where fans worldwide wished to join Shelby’s crew. Peaky Blinders ran for six seasons from 2013 to 2022, with the story set in 1900s England, where a gang who sew razor blades into the peaks of their caps rule the streets. While one of Hollywood’s biggest names, Murphy remains loyal to Steven Knight and his beloved Peaky Blinders series. Murphy repeatedly said that he’d return to the role of Thomas Shelby if the script were right, and it appears that the time is now.

“The film, I know exactly what it’s about. And I know what two stories it’s going to tell,” Knight told Esquire in 2022. “What will happen after that, I want that to depend on the film. For all we know somebody is going to pop out – I think I know who it’s going to be.”

Murphy is riding a career-high after winning the prize for Best Actor at the 96th Academy Awards for his performance in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. Nolan’s latest opening is one of the five most successful films at the Oscars, taking home prizes for Best Original Score, Best Film Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Supporting Actor (Rober Downey Jr.), Best Actor (Cillian Murphy), Best Director (Christopher Nolan), and Best Picture.

Thomas Shelby is one of Murphy’s most iconic roles, and fans of the gang drama have waited for a Peaky Blinders follow-up since the series concluded in 2022.

Are you excited about Steven Knight and Cillian Murphy getting the band back together for a Peaky Blinders movie? Is there a particular character you hope will return for more fine-suited warfare? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Back in 2012, Maisy Stella and her older sister Lennon Stella went viral with their YouTube cover of the Robyn song “Call Your Girlfriend.” Soon after, the sisters landed acting roles on the TV series Nashville (pictured above), where their musical performances continued as they appeared on 119 episodes of the show. Nashville wrapped up back in 2018, and six years later Maisy Stella returned to the acting world with her first film, the comedy My Old Ass, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year and sees Stella sharing the screen with Aubrey Plaza (they’re pictured together below). Amazon MGM Studios will be giving My Old Ass a limited theatrical release in the U.S. on August 2nd – and while we wait for that, Variety reports that Stella has landed her second film role. She is joining previously announced cast members Ewan McGregor and Anne Hathaway in a mysterious project It Follows director David Robert Mitchell is making for Warner Bros. Pictures, Jackson Pictures, and J.J. Abrams’ company Bad Robot. 

Details on the character Stella will be playing in this untitled thriller are being kept under wraps. In fact, pretty much everything about the project is being kept under wraps. Last year, film journalist Jeff Sneider reported the rumor that this happens to be “a dinosaur movie set in the ’80s”. In their report of the McGregor news, The Hollywood Reporter also said that their sources have described it as “a family adventure set in the 1980s that involves dinosaurs.” They added that Hathaway and McGregor would be playing the parents in this family adventure. Deadline’s sources simply described the project as a “thrill ride”… and it’s going to be shot in Imax to maximize the thrills.

It isn’t surprising that there’s not much information available, since this is a Bad Robot production, and Bad Robot likes to keep its movies as secretive as possible. Remember, they even managed to keep Cloverfield a secret until the trailer was released, and hid the fact that 10 Cloverfield Lane was a Cloverfield movie until the trailer for that one was released. Those are just a couple examples of their secrecy.

Mitchell has written the screenplay and is producing the movie with J.J. Abrams and Hannah Minghella for Bad Robot, as well as Jackson Pictures’ Matt Jackson. Jake Weiner and Chris Bender of Good Fear Content serve as executive producers. Sheila Walcott and Zach Hamby are overseeing the project for Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group.

Mitchell made his feature directorial debut with the 2010 comedy The Myth of the American Sleepover, then had a hit on his hands with It Follows in 2014. He stumbled a bit with his 2018 follow-up Under the Silver Lake, but now he’s rebounding with this project and the long-awaited It Follows sequel They Follow. Of course, since the project is set up at Warner Bros., now we just need to hope they won’t end up scrapping the movie for a tax write-off.

Are you interested in this mysterious Bad Robot project? What do you think of Maisy Stella joining the cast? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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Rise of the Ronin feels like a game that’s already one or two generations old. Developer Team Ninja has called it their “most ambitious” title to date, but that ambition is overshadowed by lackluster graphics, outdated design concepts, and performance issues that put the game more in line with the PS4 or even the PS3…

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Rise of the Ronin feels like a game that’s already one or two generations old. Developer Team Ninja has called it their “most ambitious” title to date, but that ambition is overshadowed by lackluster graphics, outdated design concepts, and performance issues that put the game more in line with the PS4 or even the PS3…

Read more…

By the luck of the Irish, a new film in The Boondock Saints series is getting locked and loaded! Deadline says the project is reimagining the brotherly action setup, with Thunder Road, the producer behind John Wick, turning the duo loose on audiences. Thunder Road will partner with Dragonfly Films for the project, with Norman Reedus (The Walking Dead, Death Stranding) and Sean Patrick Flanery (Powder, Saw 3D: The Final Chapter) reprising their roles from the original films.

Deadline‘s report says Troy Duffy, who helmed the first two films in the series (The Boondock Saints and The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day), will not direct the new movie. The Boondock Saints reimagining revolves around the fraternal twin Irish MacManus Brothers, Connor (Flanery) and Murphy (Reedus), finding new Saints to carry their torch. Although he’s relinquishing the director’s chair, Troy Duffy is still in the Boondock Saints business. Rather than shoot the next film in the series, he’s writing a series of books about the Saints, expanding the universe in prose instead of film.

“When we were given the opportunity to help bring the MacManus brothers back to the screen, we jumped at the chance,” said Basil Iwanyk of Thunder Road Films. “The unique possibility of building on the iconic mythology and characters for all the long-time fans of the series, as well as opening it up to a whole new generation, is one that we couldn’t be more excited about.”

“I’m thrilled to be working alongside Basil Iwanyk’s Thunder Road Films and Todd Myers’ Dragonfly Films to bring more of the story of the Boondock Saints to audiences,” said Reedus about bringing the fan-favorite characters back to screens. “I can’t wait for everyone to see what we have long been working toward. We are pressing on without our longtime friend and Captain, Troy Duffy on this one. He has decided to write a Boondock Saints book series and I can’t wait to read it.”

“Basil and Todd are the perfect partners to bust the brothers out of prison,” Flanery adds. “With Basil and Todd at the helm, this will be the best Saints yet. So now it’s time for the brothers to break out the pea coats, re-load, and get back to work.”

Despite critics raking the first film over coals, The Boondock Saints is a cult favorite among action fans. The first film in the series only made $30,471 at the box office on a budget of $6M. The sequel, The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, fared much better with $10,6M worldwide on a reported budget of $8M. While the totals won’t set the world on fire, it’s been long enough that fans of the MacManus Brothers are itching for another chapter in the series. With the producers of John Wick behind the scenes, the Saints could get a fresh coat of paint that appeals to a broader audience.

Are you excited about The Boondock Saints returning to screens? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Dev Patel’s feature directorial debut is picking up steam on the hype train. Monkey Man recently premiered to great raves at the SXSW Festival, and the screening earned Patel a lengthy standing ovation, which moved him to tears. Universal has released a final trailer for the Jordan Peele-produced film just before it hits theaters (and faces) on April 5. Joining Patel in the cast is a slate of actors that include international talents such as Sharlto Copley (District 9), Pitobash (Million Dollar Arm), Vipin Sharma (Hotel Mumbai), Sikandar Kher (Aarya), Adithi Kalkunte (Hotel Mumbai), Sobhita Dhulipala (Made in Heaven), Ashwini Kalsekar (Ek Tha Hero), Makarand Deshpande (RRR), Jatin Malik in his film debut, and Zakir Hussain (Duranga).

The official synopsis reads,
“Oscar^® nominee Dev Patel (Lion, Slumdog Millionaire) achieves an astonishing, tour-de-force feature directing debut with an action thriller about one man’s quest for vengeance against the corrupt leaders who murdered his mother and continue to systemically victimize the poor and powerless.

Inspired by the legend of Hanuman, an icon embodying strength and courage, Monkey Man stars Patel as Kid, an anonymous young man who ekes out a meager living in an underground fight club where, night after night, wearing a gorilla mask, he is beaten bloody by more popular fighters for cash.

After years of suppressed rage, Kid discovers a way to infiltrate the enclave of the city’s sinister elite. As his childhood trauma boils over, his mysteriously scarred hands unleash an explosive campaign of retribution to settle the score with the men who took everything from him.

Packed with thrilling and spectacular fight and chase scenes, Monkey Man is directed by Dev Patel from his original story and his screenplay with Paul Angunawela and John Collee (Hotel Mumbai, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World).”

Monkey Man is produced by Dev Patel, Jomon Thomas p.g.a. (Hotel Mumbai, The Man Who Knew Infinity), Oscar^® winner Jordan Peele (Nope, Get Out), Win Rosenfeld (Candyman, Hunters series), Ian Cooper (Nope, Us), Basil Iwanyk (John Wick franchise, Sicario films) and Erica Lee p.g.a. (John Wick franchise, Silent Night), Christine Haebler (Shut In, Bones of Crows), Sam Sahni (associate producer The Wedding Guest, executive producer To Kill a Tiger) and Anjay Nagpal (executive producer of Bombshell, Greyhound). Serving as executive producers are Jonathan Fuhrman, Natalya Pavchinskaya, Jason Cloth, Suraj Maraboyina, Adam Somer, Aaron L. Gilbert, Andria Spring, Alison-Jane Roney and Steven Thibault.

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The councils are at war. If you pledge your loyalty to the Black Council, you can watch the Black Trailer. If you are a supporter of the Green Council, you can view the Green Trailer. Or if you’re just in excited anticipation of the new season of the Game of Thrones series, you can watch them both. HBO has just released two trailers, by way of Deadline, that tell of the upcoming civil conflict for the control of The Iron Throne. In October of 2022, the first season of House of the Dragon left audiences with a sense of impending war as Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen found herself laced with rage and coming to a decision to battle for the throne. The second season suffered some delay due to last year’s dual union strikes, but wait no more. The Green and Black trailers showcase this season’s story from the point of view of the respective factions.

The returning cast from the first season of House of the Dragon includes Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, Emma D’Arcy, Eve Best, Steve Toussaint, Fabien Frankel, Ewan Mitchell, Tom Glynn-Carney, Sonoya Mizuno, and Rhys Ifans. Additional returning cast includes Harry Collett, Bethany Antonia, Phoebe Campbell, Phia Saban, Jefferson Hall, and Matthew Needham.

New names that join the cast of this new season include Abubakar Salim as Alyn of Hull, Gayle Rankin as Alys Rivers, Freddie Fox as Ser Gwayne Hightower, Simon Russell Beale as Ser Simon Strong, Clinton Liberty as Addam of Hull, Jamie Kenna as Ser Alfred Broome, Kieran Bew as Hugh, Tom Bennett as Ulf, Tom Taylor as Lord Cregan Stark, and Vincent Regan as Ser Rickard Thorne.

Earlier this month, GoT creator George R.R. Martin, wrote on his blog about his traveling to the House of the Dragon production where he began to develop ideas for seasons three and four. “I also spent two days locked in a room with Ryan Condal and his writing staff (Sara Hess, Ti Mikkel, David Hancock, and Philippa Goslett) talking about the third and fourth seasons of HOUSE OF THE DRAGON,” Martin wrote. “They were lively, fun discussions, and we got some good work done… though two days was not nearly enough. There is so much ground to cover that I am not sure twenty days would have been enough.“

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More than two years have gone by since we heard that photographer Caitlin Cronenberg, daughter of legendary filmmaker David Cronenberg, would be making her feature directorial debut with a thriller called Humane. Production wrapped over a year ago – but we won’t have to wait much longer to see the film. IFC Films and the Shudder streaming service have picked up the U.S. distribution rights, with IFC planning to give the film a theatrical release on April 26th. It will then move to Shudder at a later date. Elevation Pictures will be handling Canadian distribution. With the theatrical release date right around the corner, a trailer for Humane has arrived online… and if you’ve been wondering what a movie by the daughter of David Cronenberg would look like, you can get an idea by checking out the trailer in the embed above.

Written and produced by Michael Sparaga of Victory Man Productions, Humane is described as a “dystopian satire” takes place over the course of a single day, months after a global environmental collapse has forced world leaders to take extreme measures to reduce the earth’s population. In a wealthy enclave, a recently retired newsman invites his four grown children to dinner to announce his intentions to enlist in the nation’s new euthanasia program. But when the father’s plan goes horribly awry, tensions flare and chaos erupts among his children.

The film stars Jay Baruchel (Random Acts of Violence), Emily Hampshire (Chapelwaite), Peter Gallagher (Grace and Frankie), Alanna Bale (Cardinal), Sebastian Chacon (Emergency), and Sirena Gulamgaus (Transplant).

Humane was executive produced by Martin Katz and Karen Wookey of Prospero Pictures, Todd Brown and Nick Spicer of XYZ Films, and Adrian Love and Laurie May of Elevation Pictures.

Scott Shooman, head of AMC Networks’ Film Group, provided the following statement: “Caitlin has crafted a provocative directorial debut exuding a timeliness and evocative social critique that highlights one of the most assured and exciting new voices to contend with. We are honored to distribute Caitlin’s first full-length feature for its theatrical release and presence on our streaming platform, Shudder.“

Emily Gotto, Shudder’s VP of global acquisitions & co-productions, added: “With Humane, Caitlin has delivered a wickedly smart, humorous and socially relevant thriller with exceptional performances from its outstanding cast. We can’t wait to share this chilling, prescient satire with Shudder members.“

A few years ago, Caitlin collaborated with her father on a short film called The Death of David Cronenberg.

Are you looking forward to Caitlin Cronenberg’s Humane? What did you think of the trailer? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

The post Humane trailer: Caitlin Cronenberg thriller reaches theatres next month appeared first on JoBlo.

The game-to-movie pipeline is seemingly in full swing, particularly after the meteoric success of Nintendo’s 2023 animated comedy The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Now Margot Robbie, the star of Barbie (the only movie to beat Mario at the global box office last year), is set to produce a film adaption of Electronic Arts’…

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