The Real-Life Bank Robbery That Inspired Heat

The Real-Life Bank Robbery That Inspired Heat One cop, one robber, two cups of coffee; it’s the set-up for that legendary diner chat in “Heat,” one of the most famous scenes in modern movie history. In a three-hour crime epic punctuated by teeth-rattling shootouts, this quiet conversation is one of the most riveting moments in the whole film. Not only is it expertly written and shot, it went down in history as the first onscreen meeting of two acting heavyweights, Al Pacino and Robert De Niro....

August 22, 2025 · 7 min · 1390 words · Peter Green

The Yorgos Lanthimos Role Elizabeth Olsen Missed Out On Because Of Marvel

The Yorgos Lanthimos Role Elizabeth Olsen Missed Out On Because Of Marvel When you sign on to be a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, you can best believe a lot of your time will be spent on the various projects within the MCU. You may be the star of a movie or a television show, a supporting player, or they will just bring you in for a cameo appearance in something unexpected....

August 22, 2025 · 4 min · 712 words · Kenneth Perkins

This Week In Trailers: 7 Cajas, Escape Fire, Tai Chi 0, The Dinosaur Project, Only The Young, Sushi: The Global Catch

This Week In Trailers: 7 Cajas, Escape Fire, Tai Chi 0, The Dinosaur Project, Only The Young, Sushi: The Global Catch Trailers are an under-appreciated art form insofar that many times they’re seen as vehicles for showing footage, explaining films away, or showing their hand about what moviegoers can expect. Foreign, domestic, independent, big budget: I celebrate all levels of trailers and hopefully this column will satisfactorily give you a baseline of what beta wave I’m operating on, because what better way to hone your skills as a thoughtful moviegoer than by deconstructing these little pieces of advertising?...

August 22, 2025 · 7 min · 1356 words · Cassidy Harris

This Week In Trailers: Davi's Way, The Dig, First Light, Swiped: Hooking Up In The Digital Age, The Most Beautiful Couple

This Week In Trailers: Davi’s Way, The Dig, First Light, Swiped: Hooking Up In The Digital Age, The Most Beautiful Couple Trailers are an under-appreciated art form insofar that many times they’re seen as vehicles for showing footage, explaining films away, or showing their hand about what moviegoers can expect. Foreign, domestic, independent, big budget: What better way to hone your skills as a thoughtful moviegoer than by deconstructing these little pieces of advertising?...

August 22, 2025 · 4 min · 765 words · Lacey Welch MD

This Week In Trailers: Weinstein, My Moon, Bloodlands, Are We Not Cats, Ugly Delicious

This Week In Trailers: Weinstein, My Moon, Bloodlands, Are We Not Cats, Ugly Delicious Trailers are an under-appreciated art form insofar that many times they’re seen as vehicles for showing footage, explaining films away, or showing their hand about what moviegoers can expect. Foreign, domestic, independent, big budget: What better way to hone your skills as a thoughtful moviegoer than by deconstructing these little pieces of advertising?This week we take aim atHarvey Weinstein, take another look at a fairy tale gone horribly awry, get excited for a different kind of animated movie, fall in love with the absolutely wrong person, and try something new to eat....

August 22, 2025 · 4 min · 729 words · Debra Jones

Trailer Trio: Unmade Beds, Across The Hall And Slayers

Trailer Trio: Unmade Beds, Across The Hall And Slayers I’m stepping on Christopher Stipp’s toes a little bit here; he’s been doing a great job with his columnThis Week in Trailerson Fridays, but here it’s only Tuesday and we’ve already got a trio of indie clips to show off. So rather than wait for the roundup I’ll present this varied package of trailers now, and free up space for Christopher to talk about other stuff at the end of the week....

August 22, 2025 · 2 min · 388 words · Mr. Richard Dixon MD

Unmade Stanley Kubrick Script 'Burning Secret' Is Going Up For Auction

Unmade Stanley Kubrick Script ‘Burning Secret’ Is Going Up For Auction Acclaimed directorStanley Kubrickdied in 1999, but if a bold enough filmmaker comes along, a new movie may be added to Kubrick’s cinematic legacy. Kubrick co-wrote the script for a movie adaptation of a novella calledBurning Secretback in 1956, but the film never got made – not only that, the screenplay was thought to be lost forever. Butsomeone found it earlier this summer, and the Stanley KubrickBurning Secretscript is officially going up for auction later this month....

August 22, 2025 · 3 min · 488 words · Karen Coleman

VOTD: 23 Things In 'Star Wars' That Aren't Named In The Original Trilogy

VOTD: 23 Things In ‘Star Wars’ That Aren’t Named In The Original Trilogy Even though a big chunk of theStar Warsuniverse was turned into nothing more than glorified fan fiction when Disney bought Lucasfilm andturned the entire Expanded Universe into non-canon Legends, there is still quite a detailed mythology behind the sci-fi saga. What’s interesting is that some of the most iconic details of the Star Wars universe are never actually named in the films....

August 22, 2025 · 2 min · 416 words · Hannah Mitchell

VOTD: Unbelievable Animatronic Groot From Disney Imagineering Can Freely Walk Around Theme Parks

VOTD: Unbelievable Animatronic Groot From Disney Imagineering Can Freely Walk Around Theme Parks For kids, the most magical thing about Disney theme parks is getting to interact with the characters they love from movies and TV shows. Of course, we know those characters are just cast members in big puffy body suits made to look like animated characters. However, the geniuses at Disney Imagineering have crafted new state-of-the-art bipedal animatronic technology that will make it so a character like Baby Groot fromGuardians of the Galaxycan walk around parks, wave at families, pose for pictures, and even have an impromptu dance party....

August 22, 2025 · 3 min · 571 words · Joshua Gonzalez

'A Wrinkle In Time' Review: Ava DuVernay Delivers A Unique And Admirable Mess

‘A Wrinkle In Time’ Review: Ava DuVernay Delivers A Unique And Admirable Mess Disney’sA Wrinkle in Timerepresents a long-overdue milestone being passed. The fact that the film’s director,Ava DuVernayofSelmaand13th, is the first woman of color to helm a Hollywood film with a budget over $100 million is remarkable; that it took the industry until2018to allow this barrier to be broken is unforgivable. ButA Wrinkle in Time, leaving aside a marketing campaign that portends a new mega-bucks franchise, is a surprising, distinctive, sometimes mawkish, sometimes emotionally wrenching, and all-over-the-place journey....

August 21, 2025 · 5 min · 904 words · Karen Hernandez

'Authority' And 'Acceptance': The 'Annihilation' Sequels We'll Never See

‘Authority’ And ‘Acceptance’: The ‘Annihilation’ Sequels We’ll Never See Alex Garland’sAnnihilationis now playing in theaters. While the film is adapted from the first in trilogy of books by authorJeff VanderMeer, it’s highly unlikely we’ll ever seeAnnihilationfilm sequels. Let’s dive into theAnnihilationbook sequels,AuthorityandAcceptance, and explain why. The Annihilation Sequels We’ll Never See On Screen Annihilationis the first in a trilogy of books –The Southern Reach Trilogy.AuthorityandAcceptancecontinue, and conclude, the story, providing some answers while also creating entirely new questions....

August 21, 2025 · 5 min · 1063 words · Jennifer Murillo

'Big Hero 6' Animated Series Bringing Back Most Of The Movie's Voice Cast

‘Big Hero 6’ Animated Series Bringing Back Most Of The Movie’s Voice Cast Way back in the spring, we learned that Disney XD would bring back the superhero teamBig Hero 6in their own animated series. At the time, all we knew was that it would pick up shortly after the events of the first film and the series would be executive produced byKim PossiblecreatorsMark McCorkleandBob Schooleyalong with anotherKim Possiblevet,Nicholas Filippi, who’ll serve as supervising director....

August 21, 2025 · 2 min · 420 words · Brianna Glass

'Bright' Director David Ayer On Creating A Fantasy L.A. For Netflix [Interview]

‘Bright’ Director David Ayer On Creating A Fantasy L.A. For Netflix [Interview] It’s hard to argue that Netflix isn’t directly competing with Hollywood studios when the new Will Smith movie premieres on the streaming service. After making original films with megastars Adam Sandler and Brad Pitt, Netflix closes the year out withBright, a cop drama reuniting Smith with hisSuicide SquaddirectorDavid Ayer. Well, it’s not quite a standard cop drama. Smith is partnered with an orc (Joel Edgerton) on the case of elves (Noomi Rapace, Lucy Fry and Edgar Ramirez), and looking for a magic wand....

August 21, 2025 · 6 min · 1126 words · Ricardo Bradshaw