2 Gays, 1 Remake: Drive My Car

Riding the comedown from the Oscars, Cláudio Alves and Nick Taylor speculate on the remake potential of Best International Film winner, Drive My Car.

CLÁUDIO: April Fools' Day is always a frustrating time to be on Twitter. From nobodies to reputable sources, countless accounts share announcements of fake projects, preposterous stuff that nonetheless feels plausible in our current paradigm. One of those jokey posts reported an American remake of Drive My Car. Though false it rings true; "Foreign" awards season juggernauts are often retrofitted for Hollywood versions. Though they haven't yet seen the light of day, Toni Erdmann, Parasite, and Another Round are all to be remade as English-language features and series.

And yet, outrage couldn't last when someone mentioned a brilliant idea – Oscar Isaac in the Hidetoshi Nishijima role! Maybe because I love great acting, perhaps because I like to imagine Isaac being all sad and hot, my curiosity was piqued. As ever, when the matters of sexy hunks and dream castings arise, I had no choice but to turn to my dear friend Nick Taylor…

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Casting: Austin Butler as Feyd Rautha in 'Dune Part Two'

by Nathaniel R

Twink Wars 2023

In what surely must be a sign that Warner Bros is very happy with Baz Luhrmann's forthcoming Elvis, Austin Butler is now reportedly in talks to play the cunning Feyd Rautha, in their pricey franchise installment Dune Part Two. (Earlier online rumors had suggested Barry Keoghan was in the mix). Dune Part Two is due in theaters in October 2023 so filming starts later this year. Florence Pugh is also joining the sequel...

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Who's That Girl ...who will be playing Madonna?

by Nathaniel R

Garner, Ferreira, Sweeney, Leon, and Pugh

As we've known for some time Madonna is writing and directing her own biopic. It's inching closer to production with casting and audition rumors. Word has it that Euphoria's Sydney Sweeney and Sky Ferreira have auditioned for the leading role as well. Earlier rumors suggested the role was going to either Oscar nominee Florence Pugh or Emmy winner Julia Garner. Some online gossip suggested Lourdes Léon, Madonna's eldest, might even be in the mix though we think that's just the internet internetting...

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Why can't we have Jonathan Bailey in the movies?

by Nathaniel R

2022 is off to a great start for 34 year-old British stage and TV star Jonathan Bailey. We've had to love him on the relative quiet for a long time because he rarely does movies! Promo photos just came out for the new West End play "Cock" in which he'll co-star with Taron Egerton as gay lovers having a fallout when one of them sleeps with a woman (Jade Anouka). In addition to that upcoming run on the boards, the Season 2 trailer for Bridgerton just dropped. This season he takes the leading spotlight as the most eligible bachelor of the titular family... 

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Interview: Laura Wandel on working with child actors in Belgium's Oscar finalist 'Playground'

by Nathaniel R

This season's finalist list for the Best International Feature Film Oscar is a mixture of international icons (Farhadi! Sorrentino!), legends in the making (Hamaguchi! Trier!) and rising auteurs (everyone else). Four of the films are even directorial debuts. Imagine being shortlisted for the Oscar on your first movie! That's what's happened to Belgium's Laura Wandel.

The 37 year old filmmaker had been making short films since 2007. After her 2014 short Les corps éstrangers competed at Cannes, it was time to make the leap to features. The result, which was tabled for a time due to pandemic delays, was the moving bullying drama Playground about a brother and sister struggling in school. We were delighted to speak to Wandel shortly after her moving film made the finals...

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