It is well known fact that for a very long time any direct depiction of homosexuality in Hollywood movies was strictly forbidden. The Hays Code, which went into effect in 1934, held firm a moral guideline in American cinema until a little over thirty years later when it was abandoned, allowing filmmakers to finally display a more accurate worldview of real life.
Now that doesn't mean that during that restrictive era some clever cinematic creators found a way to inventively sneak in a bit of queer subject matter into their films by using subtle subtext. And one of the most perfect genres to utilize this was in the horror genre where the characters were already considered strange, dangerous and outsiders to society. In celebration of Pride month, Vulture has made a guide to queer horror cinema with the list recently updated.
To see the complete list of films, please click below:
In a matter of days, we will finally know the winners of The Oscars. In the meantime, here's a bit of information regarding the film industry that I found interesting:
The Criterion Collection has long been considered the gold standard for films as they focus on recognizing and preserving classic and contemporary films from across the globe. With their collection of over 1200 thoughtfully curated movies on DVD, filmmakers long to be a part of their prestigious catalog while cinephiles covet to collect each of their selections. Criterion pioneered the special features found on DVDs that included the use of trailers, deleted scenes, alternate endings and, most importantly, commentary tracks. The New York Times has examined the company, founded in 1984, from when Criterion began with laserdiscs, the short lived, home video format and has grown to now having their own subscription streaming service.
After many years of campaigning for recognition by the Oscars, casting directors have finally succeeded and the Academy have created a new category (the first in twenty-four years) for Best Casting and will be presented during the 2026 ceremony. Another group that have also been vigorously fighting almost as long to have a category for themselves during the Academy Awards are the stunt people, the men and women who have risked their well-being to create realistic looking falls, fights and crashes. So far, they remain unsuccessful but with casting now being honored, hopefully stunt work will not be far behind and will soon have their moment. In the meantime, Vulture have created the Stunt Awards to make up for this oversight. This began last year and was such an astounding success that the awards has been expanded with more entries and a larger voting body.
Here's a photographic look back at the history of one of the most coveted afterparties on Hollywood's biggest nights; Vanity Fair's Oscars party. The magazine looks back at their first party in 1994 which came together not long after the passing of talent agent, Irving "Swifty" Lazar who had held an exclusive Oscars viewing and after party for many years. Graydon Carter, then the editor of Vanity Fair, and the producer Steve Tisch came together to fill the void and these parties have been going on, becoming bigger and more glamourous, ever since. They have put together an incredible collection of photos from these gatherings with all of the beautiful movies stars, athletes, musicians and celebrated figures of the day all having a grand, extravagant time.
And finally, Vulture has ranked fifty of the most memorable, crazy, thought-provoking and moving acceptance speeches from all of the many awards shows over the last fifty five years. Not surprising, The Oscars have a large number of entries here but all of them are wildly entertaining.
Please click below to read:
As we bid 2023 a fond farewell, we have much to look forward to in regard to new cinema in 2024. Vulturehas done us a solid by providing a rundown of many of the upcoming films we should be seeing in theaters throughout the year while offering highlights of thirty-two of them. This listing features the musical version of "Mean Girls"; the highly anticipated continuation of "Dune"; "Furiosa", George Miller’s prequel to his "Mad Max: Fury Road"; "Twisters" which is a not a sequel to the 1996 film but a "new chapter"; Joaquin Phoenix returns as the criminally insane title character in "Joker: Folie à Deux" with Lady Gaga also on board; and the first part of the Broadway musical that fans have been long awaiting to see on the big screen, "Wicked".
Some of these features had been delayed from last year due to the strikes and because of these labor disputes, there will unavoidably be fewer films released over this year. And this slate also appears to be even more sequel heavy than the previous year with follow-ups that include "Deadpool", "Venom", "Inside Out", "Sonic the Hedgehog", "Despicable Me", "Ghostbusters", "Kung Fu Panda", "Bad Boys", "Planet of the Apes", "Gladiator" and after thirty-six years, "Beetlejuice".
The Oscars are just a few days away, with Jimmy Kimmel returning to host the ninety-fifth ceremony. So here is a bit of cinema ranking and some lively bits of Oscar information to go over before showtime this Sunday:
There was much chatter about the recent polling by the British film magazine, Sight and Sound with their survey, taken every ten years, ranking the top-ten greatest movies of all-time. Beginning in 1952, with Vittorio De Sica's "Bicycle Thieves" topping the list, each decade saw a shifting in order of films but it was "Citizen Kane" that ruled the number one position starting in 1962. Orson Welles' 1941 masterpiece remained at the top of this poll until 2012 when the stylish psychological thriller, "Vertigo" by Alfred Hitchcock took over the top spot. At this time, the list was expanded to include one hundred movies and increased the number of international film professionals and critics to participate in the selections. And last year with the latest poll, "Vertigo" was replaced by a new film that had previously ranked thirty-seven on the list. The New York Times explores the history of the Sight and Sound poll, examining how opinions and tastes have changed over the decades.
Many were taken aback when the British performer, Andrea Riseborough was announced this year as one of the nominees for Best Actress in a little-seen, off-the-radar, indie drama, "To Leslie". After just watching her searing performance in the film as an alcoholic, single mother who squanders all the prize money after winning the lottery and abandoning her son, it is quite clear to me that not only does Riseborough earn her spot in the category but is actually a true contender to receive the award. But this is hardly the first time that the actress has impressed audiences, critics and her fellow actors with her captivating, committed work. Vulture has selected eleven of Riseborough's previous film and television appearances to highlight, giving a better understanding on why she is in the conversation.
Roger Deakins is one of the most honored cinematographers by the Academy with the British director of photography earning his sixteenth Oscar nomination this year for his breathtaking work in Sam Mendes' "Empire of Light". Cláudio Alves, for the blog, The Film Expereince, has ranked this visionary master's sixteen nominations, breaking them down from great although not thrilling to absolute transcendence.
Vulture has also gone on to rank all fifty-four films nominated this year for an Oscar (including the short films). This is an impressive endeavor and I have to say I'm a little shocked at what was ranked at the bottom of this list. Check it out for yourself:
And to close this Oscar Madness out, here is a clip of the first, almost thirty minutes of the 1974 Academy Awards which includes a dazzling opening musical number by Liza Minnelli that pays tribute to the award, an introduction by then-Academy President Walter Mirisch (who just recently passed away in February at the age of 101) and opening comedy monologue by host Burt Reynolds:
This past year in movies found people were returning to theaters with the global box-office reaching twenty-six billion dollars in revenue, a 27% gain over 2021. And while that is quite impressive and encouraging, there is still a ways to go before there is full recovery to previous numbers before the pandemic. The question still remains, however, if that will ever be possible. One glaring problem that hindered getting a wider audience to return was the lack of product finding it's way into theaters last year, with wide gaps between release dates of new movies which was particularly noticeable over the holidays.
With this new year, studios are promising that they resolved the issue with releases and we should see a steady stream of new films throughout 2023.
Vulture has put a spotlight on twenty-eight films that should be released this year; ranging from the much buzzed about "M3gan" about an AI assistance doll-turned-killer (due in theaters today) to "Cocaine Bear" which is a fact-based story about a bear that goes berserk after consuming a large amount of the drug to a film finally being made based on the Judy Blume classic, coming-of-age book, "Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret" to the latest Wes Anderson fantasia, "Asteroid City" set in a 1955 Junior Space Cadet convention to the eighty year old Harrison Ford returning as his popular action hero in "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" to Greta Gerwig's live-action, colorful take on the sixty-three year old fashion doll, "Barbie" to the conclusion of Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s sci-fi epic, "Dune: Part Two". There is also a listing of the rest of the movies scheduled to reach theaters by release date and some anticipated films that could (or should or might) come out in 2023.
I can't believe that Labor Day is almost upon us. Not only is it a day to honor and recognize the labor movement and the contributions of laborers in the US but it is also long considered the start of the fall movie season. I have usually put together my own list of movies I am highly anticipating to see over the next four months of the year but time has escaped me, which doesn't allow me enough of an opportunity to do the research to properly share my opinion. So I will offer Vulture's round-up of the upcoming fall/winter movies with twenty-four given a special highlight.
One thing I am very glad to see is that the list of films that will be released this season is far more robust that what we had this summer with the month of August, in particular, was depressingly slight. There are some that have already received plenty of buzz (the Marilyn Monroe bio-pic, "Blonde"; the sequel to "Knives Out"; the long-awaited "Black Panther" sequel; the even longer-awaited sequel to "Avatar") and others that will probably soon begin to receive award buzz once they start to appear at the upcoming film festivals (Steven Spielberg's semi-autobiographical coming-of-age drama, "The Fabelmans"; Damien Chazelle’s period drama, "Babylon" with Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie; "Decision to Leave", Park Chan-wook’s follow-up to 2016's "The Handmaiden"; David O. Russell’s first film in seven years, "Amsterdam", a mystery-comedy set in the 1930's). This listing includes streaming titles and a few movies that may or may not appear in theaters before the year's end.
The Academy Awards is finally just one day away. So while you wait in anticipation and to help fill the time until then, here is some silly trivia and fascinating information about the Oscars to distract you until the big show:
If you win an award, you are expected to give a speech. And over the many years of the Oscars, there have been many wild, moving, rambling, inspiring, and confusing speeches given. Joe Reid of Vanity Fair tries to figure out why some of these words of thanks and gratitude have become popular viewings on the official Oscars YouTube channel, listing the current top-ten speeches along with the number of views.
It's seems like it's been a long time since the Oscar race has been this wildly unpredictable on who will be the actual winners, particularly in the acting categories this year. There have been times when there is one actor who appears to be a sure thing in taking home the gold prize after winning most of the other cinema awards and critics prizes. Yet on Oscar night, somebody's else name is called to pick up the coveted award. Vulture has highlighted nine of the most shocking upsets over the last twenty-five years of theAcademy Awards.
And this year marks the 50th anniversary since the release of "The Godfather", the 1972 Best Picture winner which is considered by many to be one of the greatest works ever in cinema. On March 25, 1972, the first film in Francis Ford Coppola's trilogy of the crime drama saga about the Corleone family was released, receiving immediate acclaim from critics and audiences, making it become a highly influential, groundbreaking film. There is a rumor buzzing around that there might even be a cast reunion during this year's Oscar telecast (let's hope). The New York Timestakes a look back with an interview with the eighty-two year old Coppola who discusses the extensive process it took to get "The Godfather" looking as close as possible to what it did during it's original release in time for it's golden re-release. And there is a fun, trivia quiz about the film that tests your knowledge on this classic.
Going in to 2021, it was hopeful that the movie business would be able to return to some sense of "normal". And while people did return to theaters, they were venturing out largely to see the major event movies while comedies, dramas and indie fare still struggled to get audiences back into seats. Now that there is a new variant of COVID, effecting the fully vaxxed and non-vaxxed alike, it's unclear how this will impact the upcoming release schedule.
Vulture have rounded out the slate of movies that are planned to be released throughout this upcoming year, highlighting forty-one that are of particular interest. I'm sure this list will inevitably change, with some films either being delayed or moved to streaming only, but it is a list filled with intriguing films; there are the expected sequels ("Jurassic World: Dominion", "Legally Blonde 3", "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom", "Thor: Love and Thunder" and the two-year delayed "Top Gun: Maverick") reboots ("The Batman", "Scream", "Texas Chainsaw Massacre") and some interesting original films ("Everything Everywhere All at Once", Robert Eggers' "The Northman", Baz Luhrmann's "Elvis", Damien Chazelle’s period drama, "Babylon" and Jordan Peele's "Nope"). And there is the very, long-awaited sequel to James Cameron's 2009 sci-fi adventure, "Avatar".
The fall movie season is about to begin yet there is still so much uncertainty on what that will really mean. With COVID still ravaging through society and some theaters are requiring proof of vaccination in order to enter, movie studios are understandably skittish about audience turn-out which will largely determine the fate of their upcoming theatrical releases, quite a few that have been waiting over a year to reach cineplexes. One casualty is the Tom Cruise sequel, "Top Gun: Maverick" which had already been delayed since last year and was supposed to be released in November but recently has been pushed to spring of 2022.
I have normally compiled my own list of upcoming movies I am looking forward in seeing but it is still too challenging to get a clear idea of what will actually be released. So once again, I will share Vulture's list of highlights of the new movies we will (might) be seeing throughout the rest of the year. They have a list of thirty-two movies that the editors are excited to see, arranged by month and what format the films will be seen (theatrical, streaming or a hybrid). There is also a complete list of films set to be released through December including a large number of movies with dates still to be determined.
As we move in to Memorial Day weekend, this is typically the start of the summer movie season. But because there was no guarantee that people would even be able to go back in to theaters in any significant way, the number of films being released is not as robust as seasons in the past. However, with half of the country vaccinated and theaters being allowed to have them opened at full capacity, there is a good chance this could be a summer to remember.
And as for the movies? Well, there are a number of major films that were delayed from last year like the musical, "In The Heights", the never-ending franchise sequel, "Fast & Furious 9", one for the kids, "Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway" and the latest Marvel super-hero adventure, "Black Widow". The rest seem to be a mix of indie films, movies from streaming services that will get a brief, token release in theaters and lower profile features meant to be seen in cinemas the previous year that will get a theatrical premiere before heading to VOD. Overall, there seems to be very little to get really excited over. But I'm sure, like every summer, there will be a few movies that will create an unexpected buzz at the box-office.
Vulture has been kind to put together a list of the movies that will be heading to theaters this summer so you can see what to expect throughout this hot weather season.
Throughout her career and despite her many achievements, Cher has not always been taken very seriously. One probable reason is her style; wild, gaudy and over-the-top fashions that some would consider tasteless and too provocative. But it is her being an outspoken, no-nonsense woman who has lived her life by her own rules and values that just might be too much for some people to handle. And while she may not have always gotten the respect she deserves, Cher has remained incredibly beloved and admired by a great number of fans because of her uncompromising nature.
Now the one and only, Cher has just turned seventy-five on May 20th. With a fearless spirit and unrelenting determination, she has endured largely by avoiding to follow trends, only going by what inspires her and never being overly concerned about what people might think about her choices.
As the story goes, an eighteen year old, Cherilyn Sarkisian met Salvatore "Sonny" Bono, an older, struggling musician and producer. He saw the potential in this shy, young girl, guiding her as a solo artist and later forming a pop music act together as a duo. It took some time but they finally hit, having several charting songs as a couple and just Cher. When the music success cooled, Sonny & Cher headed to Las Vegas which lead to them moving to television and becoming even bigger stars. And when their marriage ended, so did the variety show.
Now on her own, Cher had to start over. She went back to music with mixed results before deciding to earnestly pursue acting. It was rough going before two major directors took a chance on her; Robert Altman cast Cher in the stage play, "Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean" (and later the film adaptation) and then Mike Nichols (who saw her in the play) put her in a supporting role in his drama, "Silkwood" which starred Meryl Streep. And not long after that came the romantic-comedy, "Moonstruck" which gave her some real cred as an actress and an Oscar.
And to celebrate the acting career of this legendary diva, Vulture has decided to look back on all of the movie performances by Cher and rank them from her least successful to her very best work. Unfortunately, she hasn't done many films but what Cher has contributed to cinema are moments that have been truly magical.
The Oscarsare finally happening in a matter of days after a delay of almost two months. It appears that this year's show will attempt to be the closest to a traditional program despite the on-going threat of COVID-19 in our lives with Oscar producers, Steven Soderbergh, Stacey Sher and Jesse Collins taking every measure to make sure all nominees and participants will be safe during this Sunday's live event. I'm thrilled and can't wait to see this glamourous celebration of the moviegoing experience.
In the meantime, I'm going to share some interesting links that involve discussions on the long history and the potential future of the Academy Awards:
The New York Times takes us on the journey of how the Academy Awards evolved from a low-key fifteen minute ceremony to a three-hour plus event, with it's move to television in 1953 helping to create the grand spectacle of the show and solidify it's cultural importance.
Nate Jones ofVulture looks at the cultural and artistic debates involving the Oscars, which he reveals to be hardly a new development with these complaints about the lack of diversity, category fraud, cancel culture, political speeches and honoring "popular" movies have been previously discussed over the last seventy years.
The Los Angeles Times goes back to the Oscars twenty years ago with the three way battle between "Traffic", "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "Gladiator" with film critics, Justin Chang and Glenn Whip discussing how these ultimate choices have aged and the beginning of internationalism in the movie industry.
After a year of the proliferation of streaming channels and watching new films at home, what does this mean for the future of cinema and the Oscars? Wesley Morris of The New York Times examines the movies that were nominated despite the lack of traditional theatrical distribution and critical buzz from film festivals and the concern of more mid-budget titles bypassing movie theaters completely.
And with two women nominated in the Best Director category this year (making that a total of seven in the ninety-three year history of the awards), Joy Press for Vanity Fairlooks back at a time in the 1970's when female filmmakers like Claudia Weill, Joyce Chopra, Barbara Loden, Joan Micklin Silver, Penelope Spheeris, Martha Coolidge, Joan Tewkesbury and Julie Dash were emerging to make their first movies, thrilling and inventive works, and the difficult struggle for them in trying to continue with their careers.
Zack Snyder was given the task of directing "Justice League", a mega-budgeted, cinematic gathering of DC super-heroes including Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. However, during post-production, Snyder had to drop out of the project due to a tragic family issue. Director, Joss Whedon was brought in to finish the film, re-shooting and re-editing what Snyder had completed. Released in 2017, "Justice League" (which still credited Snyder as director) was met with savage reviews and (despite earning almost $700 million) was considered a box-office flop.
Rumors of a director's cut by Snyder had been rumbling ever since Whedon's version had been released. The gossip turned out to be true and (with an additional $70 million thrown in) "Zack Snyder's Justice League" was released on March 18th, exclusively on HBO Max. This film is closer to Snyder's original vision and the runtime is slightly over four hours. No, that is not a typo, folks. Now I'm sure for hardcore fans that this news is thrilling but for the casual viewer, it would seem a bit excessive.
There are no plans for a theatrical release at this time but I would think that should be a given considering all of the considerable undertaking and incredible expense given to this project. I have no immediate plans to watch "Snyder's Justice League" as the painful memory of sitting through that two-hour version is still quite vivid.
Vulture thought it would be fun to look at other feature films whose run time is four hours with Max Cea listing thirteen of the best that run two-hundred and forty minutes or more. This does include "Kill Bill" which was released as two separate films yet Tarantino said that he had originally planned to release this as one feature and it was split later only due to producer Harvey Weinstein (eww) pressuring him to shorten the runtime.
(Spolier: "Zack Snyder"s Justice League" is not on the list)
It's hard to believe that Jodie Foster has been working since she was three years old. First as as model before moving on to performing on television and eventually the movies. The two-time Oscar winner has revealed that acting was never something she had really wanted to do; it was actually something thrusted upon her. But she was capable and naturally gifted. On screen, she usually displayed a tough exterior, able to face whatever difficult challenges that came her way with fierce determination and sharp intellect. Yet there was also a tender vulnerability that has made Foster endure as one of the most fascinating of screen actors.
Will Leitch and Tim Grierson for Vulture has looked back on Foster's acting career and have ranked her film performances from least impressive to her most outstanding work which includes her latest role in the recently released "The Mauritanian". In this, Foster plays (for the first time) a character based on a real person, defense attorney Nancy Hollander who works at trying to free Mohamedou Ould Salahi (played by Tahar Rahim) who has been held by the U.S. government for years in the Guantanamo Bay detention camp without charge or trial.
And to be clear, this list is not complete as they do not rank most of Foster's film work that was done when she was a child, including her first starring role at the age of ten in the 1972 Walt Disney feature, "Napoleon and Samantha" or the now-cult classic "The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane" from 1976.
It has been months since I have been inside a movie theater and I miss the experience badly. But with a vaccine beginning to be administered, it looks like we are heading towards a return to some type of normalcy. It's gonna take some time before we are really out of danger but Hollywood is moving ahead optimistically with the idea that the business will be able to return and audiences can back in to theaters.
And with that, Vulture has put together a list highlighting many of the films that are planed to be released over the next twelve months. Some of these sixty-five features will be movies that were delayed from 2020, planned releases for 2021 and a few will be films that will get wider releases than what they were able to receive last year.
With the summer movie season a complete loss, we have now reached September and theaters in the US are still struggling to be allowed to open in much of the country. I fully understand that we continue to be very much in a middle of a deadly pandemic and there are far more important things to worry about. Yet as I see the rest of the world cautiously reopening businesses, I am incredibly frustrated that there is no clear leadership in this country to help guide us safely in that direction (I will refrain from diving deeply in to my political views on this subject but will simply state that I hope in November there will be a much needed change at the top).
I have previously expressed how I don't understand at all how some state officials believe that gyms, museums and casinos are somehow safer for people to enter than movie theaters. And my opinion on that has not changed. There has always been risk in life and if theaters will invest in taking thorough safety measures in order to reopen, we should be allowed to make our own informed decision whether to reenter their establishments.
At this time, I would normally be sharing some of the upcoming movies coming out over the next four months that I can't wait to see. But with so much up in the air, I'm not really in the mood to invest the time. Luckily, Vulture has continued the tradition and rounded up a collection of thirty-nine feature films that plan to be released in movie theaters, streaming services or possibly both this fall. I'm hopeful that most of these films will actually be able to keep their planned release but all dates are most certainly subject to change.
It would normally be around this time that we would be gearing up for the usually robust summer movie season but as the world remains largely locked down and the attempt to reopen is happening very slowly and cautiously, the question now is there even going to be any movies opening at all this summer? At this point with the date to allow movie theaters to reopen keeps getting pushed back, it's not looking great. But I remain optimistic that we will be back inside air-conditioned theaters with a barrel of popcorn and staring once again at a giant movie screen very soon. But that also means there will be some safety measures in place that may make trying to see a movie far more complicated than before.
Vulture has gone over the plans for the summer movie release schedule currently in place and have broken it down from movies that have been forced to skip theaters and will be available to stream (which are largely flicks from Netflix and Amazon), movies you will be able to stream but may still turn up in theaters at a later date this summer and movies with (tentative) dates to be released at your local cinema over the summer.
As we move in to a second month of Coronavirus-induced quarantine, I'm sure some people might be ready to explore avenues of cinema they might have ordinarily not been interested in going down. If you are feeling adventurous, Vulture has went to various filmmakers from across the globe and asked them what they are watching while at home and what they would recommend people to see. As to be expected, these acclaimed artists (which include Ava Duvernay, Luca Guadagnino, Claire Denis, Guillermo del Toro, Edgar Wright and Paul Schrader) have largely sophisticated taste, preferring to dig back in to cinematic history or explore interesting yet challenging work. And not surprisingly, no one suggested Netflix's "Tiger King".
And for true fans of independent films, international cinema or those who might be indie-curious, Richard Brody, film critic of the New Yorker, has put a spotlight on three lesser known streaming sites that might be of interest: OVID.tv, Crackle, and the recently launched, IFC Films Unlimited. He has made a list of some of the more intriguing feature films that each site has to offer that you may want to check out.
During this difficult time of self-isolation and the incredible boredom that can arise from this situation, what better way for a movie lover to spend some time than to play a movie-inspired game? The film critics of New York Magazine, Mark Harris, David Edelstein, Angelica Jade Bastién, Alison Willmore, and Bilge Ebiri, have devised a variation of the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon game. Each writer starts with the 2003 Clint Eastwood-directed movie, "Mystic River" which Bacon co-starred and inventively links four other movies connected (indirectly) to the actor before ending with another Kevin Bacon film.
Look, you gotta a lot of time on your hands and you're watching endless movies anyway so why not spice it up by adding a little adventure and activity while you're laying on the couch? Besides, there are some good movies on these lists and all are available for streaming.
Since the hysteria surrounding the Coronavirus has literally shut down the entire planet with people being told to stay home for their safety, what is a person supposed to do with all of this downtime? One of my favorite past times, going to a movie, has become unavailable to me since Los Angeles county has ordered them to close for two weeks (or possibly longer). That means I will have no choice but to stay in and find something to watch at home. Vulture has done us a favor and have selected some films that will eat up a lot of time as their running length is three hours or more. Many of the movies that were chosen are critically-acclaimed, entertaining classics, so this is the perfect opportunity to relax, let time just slip away as you get lost in these stories and forget (temporarily) about the troubles happening outdoors.
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