Matt Singer is the editor and critic of the website ScreenCrush.com. For five years, he was the on-air host of IFC News on the Independent Film Channel, hosting coverage of film festivals and red carpets around the world. A member of the New York Film Critics Circle, he’s been a frequent contributor to the television shows CBS This Morning Saturday and Ebert Presents At the Movies, and his writing has also appeared in print and online at The Village Voice, The Dissolve, and Indiewire. His first book, Marvel’s Spider-Man: From Amazing to Spectacular, is on sale now.
Matt Singer
Abbas Kiarostami, Giant of International Cinema, Dies at 76
Tragic news via The Guardian: Abbas Kiarostami, one of the greatest filmmakers of my lifetime — or anyone’s lifetime — has died. Kiarostami was undergoing treatment for gastrointestinal cancer; he had been diagnosed with the disease in March of 2016. Kiarostami was 76 years old.
2016: The Worst Summer Movie Season Ever?
July 4th: A time for cookouts, fireworks, and big movies. The list of titles released on this holiday weekend since 1982 is one massive blockbuster after another: Terminator 2, Spider-Man 2, Despicable Me 2, Independence Day, Die Hard 2, The Perfect Storm, Armageddon, Men in Black, Superman Returns, a bunch of Transformers, and so on. There are July 4th flops (The Lone Ranger, Wild Wild West) but there’s also a dozen films that opened with at least $50 million in domestic grosses.
‘War Dogs’ Trailer: Miles Teller and Jonah Hill are the New Lords of War
War Dogs doesn’t sound like the title of a movie by Todd Phillips, the guy behind The Hangover trilogy. But the story from Rolling Stone it’s based on definitely does: “Arms and the Dudes.”
‘The Legend of Tarzan’ Review: Even the ‘Original’ Summer Movies Feel Like Sequels This Year
The Legend of Tarzan, based on the pulp hero by Edgar Rice Burroughs, focuses on a version of the jungle hero who’s long since given up swinging on vines and yelling at the top of his lungs. He doesn’t even answer to the name Tarzan anymore; he’s John Clayton, Lord of Greystroke and a famous celebrity in England, where he lives with Jane, who’s now his wife. He’s sort of like the version of Hercules from the underrated Dwayne Johnson movie from 2014, the “real” man behind a puffed-up myth. He’s also sort of like Gene Wilder’s character from Young Frankenstein without the sense of humor; denying his history and lying to himself about his true identity until the day his past comes back to haunt him. If “Young Frankenstein, but not funny” sounds like a troubling description for a movie, it should.
The 50 Best Action Movie Posters Ever
In the middle of a summer movie season like the one we’re in now, it can be hard to stand out. There is a lot of competition. The BFG and The Legend of Tarzan open this friday; Independence Day: Resurgence opened last Friday. Big blockbuster pictures like X-Men: Apocalypse, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, Warcraft, Captain America: Civil War, and The Jungle Book are all still playing in theaters. From a distance a lot of these movies begin to blend together.
The Biggest Blockbusters of 2016 Are Also the Ones With the Best Reviews
Do critics matter? Do people actually care about film reviews? These questions are almost as old as cinema itself, and they seem to get ask anew every couple of months, whenever a critically acclaimed movie flops or a critically drubbed one becomes a massive success. At least as bigger movies go, the conventional wisdom is that critics don’t really make an impact. Backed by enormous multimillion dollar marketing budgets and huge brand awareness, the studio’s tentpole releases are often considered critic-proof. Supposedly it’s smaller, specialty releases that can benefit from (or be hurt by) film critics.
The 10 Best Movies of 2016 (So Far)
There are four seasons to a year, but only two seasons to a movie year: Summer, which now starts around late February, and Awards.
‘Star Trek Beyond’ Trailer: Shipwrecked on the Final Frontier
It is interesting that, given a reboot could theoretically go off in any direction it chooses, that the relaunched Star Trek has begun to repeat events from the first Star Trek movie series. Star Trek Into Darkness was essentially a revisitation of The Wrath of Khan; the movie not only reintroduced the title character, it also flip-flopped the famous end of Wrath of Khan where Spock dies saving the Enterprise. (This time around it was Captain Kirk who made the ultimate sacrifice ... for about 8 minutes, and then he got better.) Certainly the circumstances of the film are very different, but Star Trek Beyond shares one crucial ingredient with Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, namely the destruction of the Starship Enterprise, and the shipwrecking of its crew on a distant alien planet.
What’s Expiring From Netflix: July 2016
The sad flip side of every month’s new Netflix releases is this post, which is the list of stuff expiring on Netflix next month. On July 1 some big catalog titles vanish from the streaming service, including Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey and A Clockwork Orange, and the first seven Star Trek movies. If you’re looking to pre-game Beyond with a marathon re-watch, you’ve only got about 9 days to do that.
New Netflix Instant Releases: July 2016
All right, Netflixers, here it is: The list of new titles coming to the streaming service this month. As far as acquisitions go, the headliner is easily The Big Short, Adam McKay’s bitterly funny comedy about the 2008 economic collapse. There’s also the recent and critically acclaimed horror movie The Invitation, billed as a “Netflix Exclusive.” (Whatever you want to call it, our own Britt Hayes was a big fan.) There are also 19 different Netflix originals (19!!!!) this month, including the return of BoJack Horseman, my favorite show that I’ve barely watched because I have a baby and BoJack Horseman is not a show you watch in front of a baby unless you want to scar her for life.
‘The Legend of Tarzan’ Final Trailer: Him Tarzan, You Watch Video
What makes this Tarzan different? Well, for one thing, he’s got his own hashtag. (#LegendOfTarzan)
‘David Brent: Life on the Road’ Trailer: And You Thought ‘The Office’ Was Awkward
To us, The Office is one of the best comedy series of all time. To David Brent, it’s a documentary about his life. One he seems weirdly proud of. Or at least not so ashamed of that he’s not willing to talk them again for a new documentary about his life now as a struggling musician fronting the band Foregone Conclusion.