With a heist crew that includes Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Rihanna, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter, Sarah Paulson, Mindy Kaling and Awkwafina, how can you not be stoked for Ocean’s 8? Just in case you needed a little extra convincing, Paulson has debuted the first official poster for the Steven Soderbergh-produced sequel / spinoff, and it has one hell of a tagline.
The photo that launched a meme that inspired a social media dream is now becoming a reality because sometimes the internet has some okay ideas (sometimes). Rihanna and Lupita Nyong’o are teaming up to co-star in a buddy movie directed by Ava DuVernay from a screenplay by Issa Rae — if that sounds too good to be true, that’s because it was…until it wasn’t.
Could this be the year that Bruce Willis is the key to cinematic universes? M. Night Shyamalan recently announced that he would be making a crossover sequel for both Unbreakable and this year’s Split, and with Luc Besson’s upcoming sci-fi film Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets about to hit theaters, more than a few people — myself included — have wondered if Valerian would make any passing references to Besson’s The Fifth Element. Another small cameo by Bruce Willis at the end, and suddenly he’s the man holding two separate franchises together.
Five seasons of Bates Motel have inevitably built toward one Psycho moment, even going so far as to hire Rihanna in the role of Alfred Hitchcock’s most famous kill. That said, last night’s “Marion” took a major swerve from the 1960 film, for which producers explain why the new shower scene was “definitely not throwing shade” at a classic.
Earlier this week, Leos Carax fans and lovers of weird films in general were overjoyed to learn that the director’s musical, titled Annette, is officially happening with (we thought) Rihanna and Adam Driver set to star. But now it appears that only Driver is left, as Rihanna’s representatives say that the initial report is wrong, and she’s not signed on to the movie after all...
Have you seen Holy Motors? If not, add it to your to-watch list post-haste. French filmmaker Leos Carax’s bizarro collection of connected vignettes follows a odd man named Mr. Oscar as he goes about his day enacting a series of elaborate role playing scenarios, from a facially-scarred hitman to a hair-eating troll to a motion-capture technician creating an alien phantom. I’m not selling it all that well, but trust me when I say there’s a reason it usually ends up in conversations about the finest films of our young millennium. And continue trusting me when I tell you that news of another feature project from the less-than-prolific Carax is ample reason to prick up your ears and pay attention.