Review: The Girl From Plainville (Hulu)

By Christopher James

Elle Fanning tackles the role of Michelle Carter, the teen who convinced her boyfriend to take his own life, in "The Girl From Plainville."The trend of documentaries getting turned into narrative miniseries continues with The Girl from Plainview on Hulu. The case of The Commonwealth vs. Michelle Carter has been widely reported on through documentary and deep dive articles. The story touches on so many hot button items: teenage suicide, social media, bullying in relationships and whether one can prosecute someone over texts. 

So does the new Hulu series have more to say on the topic that has already been said?

Click to read more ...

Where has the time gone? "Super 8" is 10 today.

by Nathaniel R

the cast of Super 8

Remember Super 8? The sci-fi adventure was released ten years ago today. It was supposed to be a big Spielberg-size event (he produced it) and establish JJ Abrams as a successor. Things didn't quite work out that way, even though it was a decent-sized hit. Abrams retreated back into other people's franchises (Star Wars) where he'd begun as a film director (Mission Impossible and Star Trek). Super 8 grossed $127 million domestically (and another $100 million plus overseas) making it a success but probably not what Paramount was expecting stateside. Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked and The Smurfs both outgrossed it, keeping it outside the top 20 of its year. Still the sci-fi adventure had its fans and people by and large loved the young cast. And who knows. Perhaps it reengineered pop culture's DNA enough that five years later audiences turned Stranger Things into a phenomenon. Both are about a quartet of nerdy young boys, and the girl they're in awe of / a bit scared by, dealing with otherwordly forces in the Midwest. They're even set just four years apart Super 8 in 1979 and Stranger Things begins in 1983. 

Super 8 is streaming on Paramount+ at the moment. We didn't have time to rewatch the whole movie though we skimmed to refresh the memory. Elle's "acting" debut in the movie within the movie is still a terrifically explosive scene. Anyway, we thought it might be interesting to see how the cast is faring today in their mid-twenties. Let's take them in billing order...

Click to read more ...

An Offer Elle Couldn't Refuse

by Jason Adams

Have you been keeping up with the movie about the making of The Godfather? It was announced last September that Jake Gyllenhaal will be playing the infamous producer Robert Evans while Oscar Isaac will be director Francis Ford Coppola in Francis and the Godfather, with Barry Levinson directing the thing. My ears, eyes, and everythings perked right up, and so I have been paying close attention ever since and now there's more casting news...

Click to read more ...

Review: "A Rainy Day in New York"

By Abe Friedtanzer

It’s easy to forget just how formidable Woody Allen’s Oscar history is. Not only is he the most-nominated screenwriter, with sixteen bids, he’s also tied for fourth place in the directing category with seven. He won three prizes for Best Original Screenplay, for the three films that earned Best Picture nominations: Annie Hall, Hannah and Her Sisters, and Midnight in Paris. Annie Hall of course won the top prize for 1977.

Allen has made nearly fifty films, and by my count, I’ve seen a third of those. A good portion of them are from the last two decades, which is hardly considered his golden period. Of his contemporary pictures, I was most wowed by Match Point, which was a dramatic departure from his typical tone as well as a geographical departure from his beloved New York City. But his most recent, Wonder Wheel, was a dud as the closing night selection for the New York Film Festival back in 2017. Interestingly, Allen has two films premiering this month...

Click to read more ...

Would you rather?

We haven't played our dumb instagram game in a while. So here are celeb pics we felt the need to share (*sharing is not endorsement). Would you rather...?

• barbecue with Yahya Abdul-Mateen II?
• take allergy teests with Mark Wahlberg?
• receive flowers with Nicole Kidman?
• have a comfort food moment with Pierre Png?
• play with Jai Courtney's puppy?
• spend hammock time (in the 50s) with Natalie Wood?
• find positive energy with Cynthia Erivo?
• cosplay woodland creatures with Amanda Seinfried
• make Alec Baldwin mow your lawn?
• snake charming with Elle Fanning?
• dance on a mini-tramp with Goldie Hawn?
• pretend you're at a private nightclub with Kate Beckinsale?

Pictures are after the jump to help you decide. 

Click to read more ...