Red Flag Alert: "Wicked" will now be two movies long!

by Nathaniel R

Though we've been anxiously awaiting the Wicked movie for (checks IBDB) 18 years, 6 months, and 6 days, we are suddenly dreading it. We were fairly pleased with the casting and the director choice but this new information is a major red flag. In keeping with Hollywood's money-grubbing franchise mania in which they attempt to wrestle as much money from consumers as possible even if they have to pad the stories or extend them well past their breaking point -- popularized by finales that were cleaved in half to guarantee an extra billion in ticket revenue (see Twilight and Harry Potter) or three movies based on a single book (The Hobbit) -- they've decided to make Wicked a two part movie.

Director Jon M Chu (Crazy Rich Asians, In the Heights) writes...

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What did you see this week?

What did you see this weekend? I binged Heartstoppers on Netflix (having loved the webcomic it was based on), watched a few Coachella performances (Orville Peck, Maggie Rogers, and Finneas) but the highlight was definitely trekking to the theater to see The Northman with friends. Make sure to listen in to conversations from your fellow moviegoers if you see it. You'll hear lots of variations of "that was insane". The sweat lodge / Dafoe scene early in the film and the big Kidman monologue scene late in the film really get people talking if our Friday night eavesdropping was any general indication. Perhaps we should do a spoiler-heavy review (for those who've seen it only -- you should not read reviews before you see this one).

Weekend Box Office April 22nd-24th 🔺 = new or expanding / ✅ = recommended
THE NORTHMAN	EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE...

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Beauty Break: Channing Tatum for "VMan"

by Nathaniel R

Channing Tatum's tradition (superstition?) of shaving his head between movies is one of our favourite celebrity personality quirks. Because, honestly, who looks better with a shaved head than Tatum? After a long drought where it seemed he was only doing cameos (seriously, when's the last time he led a movie? 2017?) has two comedies out this year Dog (opening this Friday!) and The Lost City with Sandra Bullock (opens March 25th, Oscar weekend). The latter looks like a Romancing the Stone rip-off but if you're going to steal, steal from the best. 

As an added bonus since he's gearing up to shoot Magic Mike's Last Dance (2023) he's happy to thirst-trap it up again in this drool-worthy photoshoot for VMan magazine which you can buy here if you want to plaster these all over your walls. The photos are by Inez and Vinoodh. Pictures are after the jump...

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Yes No Maybe So: 'Lightyear', 'Jurassic World Dominion', 'Firestarter', and 'Men'

New trailer roundup!

Let's discussing upcoming prequels (Lightyear), sequels (Jurassic World Dominion), remakes (Firestarter) and one original (Men)... at least there's one! We'll do quick Yes No and Maybe So for each after the jump... 

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Podcast: Being Macbeth's Lost Daughter (Who Has No Time To Die)

Nick and Nathaniel reunion part two (of three!). This past weekend we had a mammoth talk trying to cover everything we've been catching up with or watching again. So we've split this podcast into two. Apologies that it ends on an ellipses but we live in franchise culture so you're used to it by now!

62 minutes
00:01 Indie critical darling Test Pattern
07:40 The ensemble work in Mass with a shout-out to Martha Plimpton's revelatory work
15:50 Admiring The Tragedy of Macbeth ...especially Kathryn Hunter
24:20 Nick is obsessed with The Lost Daughter and tells us why. We particularly dig into Maggie Gyllenhaal's direction and how hot smart people are
42:00 An unexpected defense (albeit with several reservations) of Being the Ricardos. We both love Nicole Kidman in it (sorry haters) but we wish Aaron Sorkin would stop directing his own stuff
49:23 No Time To Die... franchise culture, changing times, and the Daniel Craig era.
1:01:30 To be continued...

You can listen to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher or Spotify or download the attachment below. If you missed our previous recent discussion covering a full dozen 2021 movies, that's here. 

Being Macbeth's Lost Daughter