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The latest film made by acclaimed Chinese filmmaker Diao Yinan (who won the Golden Bear at Berlinale in 2014 with his film Black Coal, Thin Ice) is a noir feature titled The Wild Goose Lake, or Nan Fang Che Zhan De Ju Hui in Chinese. Both written and directed by Diao Yinan, this crazy cool crime thriller is about top gangster who ends up on the run from cops when a night of stealing motorbikes goes sideways. A quiet woman works with him and helps facilitate his sly getaways, and he starts to feel closer and closer to her while constantly coming under attack - both by rival gangsters and ruthless cops who put a bounty on his capture. The Wild Goose Lake is built upon old school film noir filmmaking but with a modern feel. I pretty much loved watching this film, it totally sucked me in even though I wasn't always sure what was going on.

› Posted 22 hours ago in Cannes 19, Review | Comments

Official Trailer for Documentary '5B' About the Very First AIDS Ward

"We have to do something." RYOT has debuted an official trailer for an indie documentary titled 5B, made by filmmakers Paul Haggis & Dan Krauss. This premiered last year at Doc Stories and just stopped by the Cannes Film Festival as a Special Screening. 5B is a reference to the first AIDS ward at a San Francisco hospital that opened in 1983. During the terrifying early days of the AIDS outbreak, a war rages among the nurses, doctors, and staff charged with caring for the infected. The doc features newly-unearthed archival footage. Described in THR's review as "a stirring assembly of first-person oral history and extensive archival footage that honors the pioneering work carried out in that ward, which opened in 1983 at San Francisco General Hospital in direct response to a state of emergency still being widely ignored." This looks powerful.

› Posted May 24 in Documentaries, To Watch, Trailer | Comments

Review: Guy Ritchie's Live-Action 'Aladdin' Movie Wishes in One Hand

By Adam Frazier

Based on the Arabic folktale Aladdin and the Magic Lamp from the book One Thousand and One Nights (aka "Arabian Nights"), plus the 1940 film The Thief of Bagdad, Disney's animated Aladdin from 1992 was the most successful movie of that year, grossing $217 million in the US and over $504 million worldwide. The hand-drawn animated film's massive success led to two direct-to-video sequels, The Return of Jafar (1994) and Aladdin and the King of Thieves (1996), an animated series for TV, and a Broadway musical adaptation. Now, after the success of other live-action Disney remakes like Cinderella, The Jungle Book, and Beauty and the Beast, British director Guy Ritchie is reimagining the beloved animated classic as a big-budget, live-action, Bollywood spectacle with flying carpets, magic genies, and a lot of wishful thinking.

› Posted May 24 in Review | Comments

Official Trailer for 'Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love' Documentary

Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love Trailer

"Poets - they're just elusive creatures… Who are married to their muse." Roadside Attractions has debuted an official trailer for a documentary titled Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year and stopped by a number of other fests including Thessaloniki, Sun Valley, and CPH:DOX. Made by veteran documentary filmmaker Nick Broomfield, this film takes an in-depth look at the relationship between the late folk musician Leonard Cohen and his Norwegian muse Marianne Ihlen. The two first met in the 1960s and spent time on Hydra in Greece. While they weren't always together, their friendship remained strong throughout their entire lives. Featuring never-before-seen footage shot by Broomfield, and conversations with many people who knew them. This seems like a lovely look at the power of love, and how an artist is influenced by his muse, someone incomparable in every way.

› Posted May 24 in Documentaries, To Watch, Trailer | Comments

Cannes 2019: Corneliu Porumboiu's Hitchcockian Tale 'The Whistlers'

Romanian filmmaker Corneliu Porumboiu has quickly established himself as one of the most unique and clever Eastern European directors making original films these days. Between Infinite Football last year, and his new feature at Cannes this year, Porumboiu has proven that his mind is unlike any other and is giving us some of the quirkiest, weirdest, smartest, and most interesting cinema that you'll discover in tiny art house cinema all over the world. His latest film is an adventurous dark comedy titled The Whistlers, a cops and criminals story from Romania about a double-crossing cop-criminal who is recruited to help get a guy out of jail in exchange for cash. For the first half I wasn't even sure where this story was going, but by the end it was obvious he was giving a nod to Hitchcock's quirky capers and classic film noir. And having fun doing so.

› Posted May 24 in Cannes 19, Review | Comments

Maya Erskine & Jack Quaid in Trailer for Romantic Comedy 'Plus One'

"I'll set you up so you can do your thang, you know!" RLJE Films has debuted an official trailer for an indie romantic comedy titled Plus One, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival just last month. This fresh take on the still-single-at-friends-wedding comedy is about two longtime single friends who agree to be each other's plus one at every wedding they've been invited to. Set over a summer of weddings – Maya Erskine and Jack Quaid star as Alice and Ben, respectively. And the cast also includes Beck Bennett, Rosalind Chao, Perrey Reeves, and Ed Begley, Jr. This looks and sounds and seems like pretty much every other singles romantic comedy where they realize that yes, as they literally say in this trailer, waiting for someone perfect doesn't lead you anywhere. And the right person is right in front of you. These are always the same.

› Posted May 23 in Indies, To Watch, Trailer | Comments

Review: Olivia Wilde's Debut Comedy 'Booksmart' Makes the Grade

By Adam Frazier

Olivia Wilde. The American actress, who derived her stage name from Irish author Oscar Wilde, is best known for her roles on television series including "The O.C." and "House", and in films like Tron: Legacy, Cowboys & Aliens, Year One, In Time, Drinking Buddies, and Rush. Now, the talented star of stage and screen is working behind the camera. After directing the shorts Free Hugs (2011), Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros: No Love Like Yours (2016), and Red Hot Chili Peppers: Dark Necessities (2016), Wilde is making her feature-length directorial debut with Booksmart, an uproarious and unfiltered coming-of-age comedy that's equal parts Superbad, Lady Bird, Can't Hardly Wait, and Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, filled to the brim with a bevy of top-notch performances from an ensemble of young, up-and-coming stars.

› Posted May 23 in Review | Comments

Who is He? Official Trailer for 'The Black Godfather' Doc on Netflix

"He became that mentor for us all. He became that Godfather." Netflix has unveiled an official trailer for a documentary titled The Black Godfather, introducing us to one of the most beloved behind-the-scenes men in the world: Clarence Avant. Not many know of him, but everyone knows the people he coached and advised - from presidents to athletes to major entertainers of all kinds. Directed by Oscar-nominee Reginald Hudlin and featuring interviews with Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, Bill Withers, Snoop Dogg, P. Diddy, Lionel Richie, Suzanne de Passe, David Geffen, Jerry Moss, Cicely Tyson, and Jamie Foxx, among others, The Black Godfather documentary pulls the curtain back on the maestro himself, shining a spotlight on the man who's spent his entire career ensuring that it shined on others. This seems like an entertaining and amusing documentary, that also looks like it's packed with some great intelligence and wisdom. Enjoy.

› Posted May 23 in Documentaries, To Watch, Trailer | Comments

First Trailer for 'Terminator: Dark Fate' with Linda Hamilton & Arnold

"I've never seen one like you before - almost human." Paramount has released the first teaser trailer for Terminator: Dark Fate, the sixth Terminator movie that takes us all the way back to the first two James Cameron movies. This one throws away the other movies and gives us an actual direct sequel to Terminator 2: Judgement Day, starting up the day after Judgement Day. As for the rest of the story, we don't know much about where it's headed but this trailer does give us a few hints. Badass actress Linda Hamilton returns as the first Sarah Connor, and Arnold Schwarzenegger as also back as the original Terminator. James Cameron is producing and is credited on the story, some good news. The cast includes Mackenzie Davis, Brett Azar as the new T-800, along with Natalia Reyes, Gabriel Luna, Diego Boneta, Alicia Borrachero, Steven Cree, Tábata Cerezo, and Björn Freiberg. Get your first look at Dark Fate below.

› Posted May 23 in Sci-Fi, To Watch, Trailer | Comments

Joe Manganiello is Stano in First Trailer for 'Bottom of the 9th' Drama

"It's going to take a while for people to get used to you being back." Saban Films has revealed the official trailer for an indie crime / sports drama titled Bottom of the 9th, based on the true story of a man named Bobby Stano. A tragic mistake lands 19 year old baseball phenom Stano, played by Joe Manganiello, in jail before his burgeoning professional baseball career gets off the ground. Now age 39 and fresh out of prison he works to win back his respect, his family, his lost love, and just maybe continue his dream of becoming a professional baseball player. Also starring Sofía Vergara, Burt Young, Denis O'Hare, James Madio, Michael Rispoli, Yancey Arias, and Vincent Pastore. This looks pretty basic, another former inmate redemption story mixed with a older-player baseball film. Might intrigue a few people, mainly baseball fans.

› Posted May 23 in Indies, To Watch, Trailer | Comments

First Official Trailer for DreamWorks Animation's 'Abominable' Movie

"Is that your home?" Universal Pictures + DreamWorks Animation have debuted the first official trailer for their next big animated movie titled Abominable, arriving in theaters this fall. This trailer has already been playing in theaters for a month but has only now finally arrived online. DreamWorks Animation and Pearl Studio's co-production Abominable takes audiences on an epic 2,000-mile adventure from the streets of Shanghai to the breathtaking Himalayan snowscapes. We've already had one other major animated movie about yetis - Warner Bros' Smallfoot from last year. This movie's story involves a young girl from Shanghai who befriends a yeti and embarks on an adventure to get him home to the mountains. Featuring the voices of Chloe Bennet, Albert Tsai, Eddie Izzard, Sarah Paulson, plus Tenzing Norgay Trainor. This looks fun, but just a bit too cheesy and incredibly unoriginal. The cute yeti looks & acts a lot like Toothless.

› Posted May 23 in Animation, To Watch, Trailer | Comments

Cannes 2019: Tarantino's Latest Film 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood'

For his next film, Quentin Tarantino is taking us back to the year 1969. Right at the end of the Golden Age of Hollywood. When hippies roamed the streets, men landed on the moon, and westerns were at the end of their time. Tarantino's ninth feature film is titled Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and it premiered at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival playing in competition - a major feat. He won the Palme d'Or back in 1994 for Pulp Fiction, and has returned a few other times previously with Grindhouse and Inglourious Basterds. This sprawling, nearly-three hour "Old Hollywood" feature is one of Tarantino's most casually entertaining – part of it is a western, part of it is cruising around Los Angeles, and part of it is a story about a fading TV actor and his badass stuntman. There's plenty of slick moments in it, alas it doesn't best his previous films.