Emma Stefansky
John G. Avildsen, Director of ‘Rocky,’ Dies at 81
Oscar-winning director John G. Avildsen, whose 1976 Rocky shot Sylvester Stallone to instant acclaim and became an ageless classic, has died at the age of 81. His oldest son Anthony informed the L.A. Times that Avildsen died from pancreatic cancer at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
Pharrell’s ‘Despicable Me 3’ Music Video Is a Fever Dream of Minions, Fluffy Clouds, and Disembodied Heads
It wouldn’t be a Despicable Me movie without an original Pharrell Williams song, now would it? “Happy” topped the charts back in 2013 ahead of Despicable Me 2’s release, won an Oscar and a Grammy, and remains a staple of sorority recruitment videos and soft drink commercials to this day. For Universal’s follow-up, the singer has composed a slightly more sedate number, titled “There’s Something Special,” the music video for which was released today. There’s something going on in this video, all right, but I dunno if it’s special.
New ‘Ferdinand’ Trailer: There Are Hedgehogs and a Pitbull Needle Drop in This
Remember that book you loved as a child, that featured simple black and white illustrations of a Spanish bull who’d rather smell flowers and sit under his favorite cork tree than get riled and fight a bunch of dudes with pointy sticks in an arena? Well, it’s a movie now, and none other than John Cena is voicing the titular Ferdinand, whose chance encounter with the back end of a bee sends him packed into a truck and hauled off to the bullfights. There’s just one wrinkle: he won’t fight.
Look at How Tentacle-y This New ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ Creature Is
It wouldn’t be a Star Wars movie without a few bizarre looking space creatures to remind us all that humans aren’t the only people running around in this faraway galaxy. And as we journey to a new planet, Ahch-to (bless you), we’re sure to meet at least one mysterious beastie lumbering around the planet’s surface. Today brings an image — an artist’s rendering, not a photo from the actual movie — of one of these new creatures Rey and Luke might meet during their journey.
Sony Won’t Release Sanitized Versions of Films If Directors Are Against It
Sony raised quite a few eyebrows with their announcement last week that they would begin a Clean Version Initiative with a bunch of their films in order to sanitize them for younger audiences. The kind of thing that made the list were comedies like Talladega Nights, Step Brothers, and Grown Ups, but Sony also listed Hancock, Captain Phillips, and Inferno for all those under-13 Dan Brown fans out there. But after a number of directors and stars took to social media to voice their concerns, Sony has decided not to bowdlerize any movie against its director’s wishes.
‘Cannonball Run’ Remake Sets Director Rawson Thurber in the Driver’s Seat
The Fate of the Furious. Cars 3. Mad Max: Fury Road. We just can’t seem to get enough of car race movies these days, and Warner Bros. is about to capitalize on audiences’ love of automobiles and equal love of nostalgia with a remake of The Cannonball Run, the Fast & Furious of its day that spawned two sequels and had perhaps THE ensemble cast. While the likes of Burt Reynolds, Roger Moore, and Farrah Fawcett are unlikely to return, Warner Bros. is in the midst of assembling a new murderers’ row of stars for the planned reboot. But first, a director. Today brings the news that Central Intelligence’s Rawson Thurber will be the one to helm what might be the start of a new diesel-fueled franchise.
Compare John Williams’ Original Score for One Key ‘Force Awakens’ Moment to the Movie Version
The best part of The Force Awakens, if I had to pick just one, is probably the fakeout when Kylo Ren is chasing Rey and Finn through the snowy forest, and the lightsaber he reaches for zooms past his face and into Rey’s outstretched hand. I went to see that movie three times in theaters, and every time that moment happened, people cheered. It’s made even cooler by the addition of John Williams’ “Force Theme,” also known as “Binary Sunset” from the original Star Wars. It was adopted somewhat as Luke’s personal theme, but generally signals the Light Side of the Force.
Cyndi Lauper Is Writing the Music for Broadway’s ‘Working Girl’
Hot off her success with the Tony Award-winning Kinky Boots, Cyndi Lauper is at it again on Broadway, this time lending her musical talents to a stage adaptation of 1988’s Working Girl.
‘Suicide Squad 2’ Staring Down the Barrel of a 2018 Production Start
Because the one thing this world has been clamoring for is a Suicide Squad sequel, we’ve got a few updates on Deadshot and the gang’s next adventure. For one thing, the script is being written right now, and it looks like, although it doesn’t officially have a director, the movie is on track for a production start sometime next year.
Someone Robbed the Largest Privately-Owned ‘Star Wars’ Collection on Earth
The owner of the largest privately-owned Star Wars memorabilia collection in the world, known as Rancho Obi-Wan, has announced today that it has been systematically robbed over a period of many months from 2015 to 2016. Steve Sansweet, who offers tours of the ranch and its many pieces of Star Wars history, says that not only do the items taken make up about $200,000, it appears to be an inside job.