Movies love a comeback story. This summer, it's their turn.
Hollywood is bringing out some of its biggest and most reliable players for the 2022 summer movie season, which unofficially kicks off this weekend with the help of Marvel and Disney’s “Doctor Strange and the Multitverse of Madness” and runs through the end of August.
SXSW plots in-person film fest with 'Atlanta,' 'Lost City'
After the pandemic forced the South by Southwest Film Festival to turn virtual the last two years, the Austin, Texas, festival is plotting a largely in-person event this March that will feature the premieres of the third season of Donald Glover’s “Atlanta,” the latest from Richard Linklater and the Sandra Bullock-Channing Tatum comedy “The Lost City.”.
New this week: 'Sex and the City,' Juice Wrld and Will Smith
This week’s new entertainment releases include a double album from Alicia Keys and a posthumous one from Juice Wrld, Sandra Bullock playing an ex-con in the Netflix film “The Unforgivable” and Will Smith testing himself in a wildlife documentary series.
Oscars surprises, snubs include Glenn Close, ‘Da 5 Bloods’
It’s a rare year when most of the Oscar nomination surprises are good ones, but 2020 was also a rare year for moviegoing and awards campaigns. Here’s our rundown of the snubs and surprises in the 93rd Academy Award nominations. FEMALE DIRECTORS GET THEIR SHOTFor 92 Academy Awards, only 5 women had ever been nominated for best director and never more than one in the same year. This year, the dubious honor goes to Glenn Close for her portrayal of Mamaw in Ron Howard’s adaptation of J.D. Starring Mads Mikkelsen, the film was well received, but seemed like a long shot for the major Oscars categories.
Betty White marks 99th birthday Sunday; up late as she wants
FILE - Actress Betty White poses for a portrait in Los Angeles on June 9, 2010. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, File)LOS ANGELES – True to form, Betty White has something impish to say about her birthday Sunday. “Since I am turning 99, I can stay up as late as I want without asking permission!” she told The Associated Press in an email. Her birthday meal will be a hot dog and French fries brought in — along with a bouquet of roses — by her longtime friend and agent, Jeff Witjas. In January alone, White is on screen in reruns including “The Golden Girls” and “Hot in Cleveland”; the 2009 Sandra Bullock movie “The Proposal,” and the 2018 documentary “Betty White: First Lady of Television,” about her life and career.
Harry Connick Jr. honors workers during pandemic road trip
FILE - This May 28, 2019 file photo shows Singer Harry Connick Jr. with his daughter Georgia at a special screening of "Pavarotti" in New York. The special will air June 21 and will follow host Connick Jr. and his filmmaker-daughter Georgia on road trip celebrating and thanking essential workers during the coronavirus pandemic. With the help of his daughter, Georgia Connick, who is a filmmaker, and a bunch of GoPro cameras, he embarked on a pandemic road trip to meet essential workers around the country who were risking their lives during the pandemic. I just want to reach out and meet some of these folks, sanitation workers or elementary school teachers or people that are working at food banks, said Harry Connick. It was highly emotional, said Harry Connick.
Winfrey, Pitt part of Grammys special for essential workers
FILE - This May 28, 2019 file photo shows Singer Harry Connick Jr. with his daughter Georgia at a special screening of "Pavarotti" in New York. The Grammys is putting together an event featuring Brad Pitt, Oprah Winfrey, Herbie Hancock and Harry Connick, Jr. to honor essential workers across America. It will follow host Connick Jr. and his filmmaker-daughter Georgia on road trip celebrating and thanking essential workers during the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)NEW YORK – The Grammys is putting together an event featuring Brad Pitt, Oprah Winfrey, Herbie Hancock and Harry Connick, Jr. to honor essential workers across America. Winfrey, Pitt, Sandra Bullock, Queen Latifah, Renée Zellweger and Drew Brees will also deliver special messages to workers.
Sandra Bullock signs on for new Netflix film 'Unforgiven'
(CNN) - Sandra Bullock will be back on Netflix. Following the success of "Bird Box," the actress has signed on to star in a feature film adaptation of "Unforgiven," based on a British three-part series that aired in 2009. "Mission: Impossible -- Rogue Nation" director and writer Christopher McQuarrie wrote the script, and German filmmaker Nora Fingscheidt will direct. "This one is near and dear to my heart," McQuarrie wrote on Twitter, adding that he's honored to know it's in "such good hands." "Bird Box" was Bullock's first collaboration with Netflix, and that project is currently in sequel development as a book.
'Ad Astra' shoots for stars, but feels lost in space
Outer space has been the setting for some recent compelling films, particularly "Gravity" with Sandra Bullock and "The Martian" starring Matt Damon. Brad Pitt is the latest Hollywood star to don a space suit and the result is "Ad Astra," which is Latin for "To the Stars." Unfortunately, "Ad Astra" gets bogged down with constant voice-overs from Pitt talking about his character's feelings. Liv Tyler plays Pitt's love interest, who appears only in a few minutes of flashback sequences. Probably the biggest disappointment is Tommy Lee Jones, who also has very little screen time for such an important character.