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2020 Independent Spirit Awards Winners: ‘The Farewell’ And ‘Uncut Gems’ Victories Make Up For The Lack Of Oscars Love By Ethan Anderton/Feb. 9, 2020 10:00 am EST The 35th Film Independent Spirit Awards were handed out last night, honoring achievements in independent cinema in a celebration of artist-driven films made with an economy of means by filmmakers whose films embody diversity, innovation and uniqueness of vision. The ceremony honored two movies that were overlooked by the Oscars in a big way, with The Farewell winning Best Feature and Adam Sandler taking home Best Male Lead for Uncut Gems....

Bruce Springsteen On Making His Directorial Debut With ‘Western Stars’ By Jason Gorber/Nov. 29, 2019 10:00 am EST Bruce Springsteen has had a hell of a few years as of late. This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, given that he’s had a hell of a last few decades, becoming one of the most celebrated and cherished entertainers in popular music history. Still, the release of his autobiography, followed by his award winning show on Broadway that helped contextualize and deconstruct some of the prevailing themes of his work has proven to be one of the great late-career moves of the day....

Cool Stuff: ‘Star Wars’ Funko POPs Add More ‘Clone Wars’ Characters To The Mix By Ethan Anderton/Oct. 6, 2020 6:00 am EST Even though The Clone Wars is one of the most successful spin-offs in the Star Wars franchise, only recently has the series been given a wider swath of collectible merchandise with the rest of the saga. Out of hundreds of Funko POPs that have been released over the years, there have probably barely been a dozen of them, but that’s about to change....

Cool Stuff: New ‘Star Wars’ Black Series Figures Include Moff Gideon, Asajj Ventress & More By Ethan Anderton/Nov. 18, 2020 3:30 pm EST Another Mando Monday has come and gone, and while The Mandalorian merchandise reveals haven’t always been thrilling every single week, there tends to be a handful of new items that are worth looking at. In addition to new Star Wars Black Series figures from The Mandalorian being revealed this week, including Moff Gideon with the Darksaber, a few characters from The Clone Wars are coming to shelves next year too, such as villain Asajj Ventress....

Fantasia Film Festival Dispatches: ‘Come True’, ‘The Dark And The Wicked’, ‘Hail To The Deadites’, ‘Fried Barry’, ‘Bleed With Me’ By /Film Staff/Aug. 31, 2020 11:00 am EST Usually, the genre-heavy Fantasia International Film Festival is held annually in Montreal, but with things the way they are this year (terrible), the festival has gone virtual. This year, Chris Evangelista and Matt Donato are covering Fantasia for /Film, firing off dispatches featuring capsule reviews of the titles we’ve watched from the safety of our own homes, all while dreaming of poutine....

How Pixar’s ‘Onward’ And Its Suburban Fantasy World Grew Together From A Seed Of Truth By Ethan Anderton/Jan. 15, 2020 8:00 am EST During /Film’s visit to Pixar Animation’s campus, we learned all about the unique story process that was utilized for the studio’s upcoming modern fantasy adventure Onward. While we learned how the story was written and drawn before heading into animation, we also heard from director Dan Scanlon about the personal nature of this narrative and how it informed both the story of the nervous and introverted 16-year old elf (Tom Holland) and the creation of the fantasy world that has lost the magic it once had....

J.J. Abrams HBO Series ‘Demimonde’ Finds Showrunners By Chris Evangelista/May 4, 2020 1:00 pm EST Demimonde, a show that was first announced all the way back in 2018, is still happening at HBO. And while we continue to know very little about the J.J. Abrams project, we now know who will be running the show. The Handmaid’s Tale executive producer Kira Snyder, and Rand Ravich and Far Shariat, who both worked on the NBC series Life, will all serve as co-showrunners....

Jake Gyllenhaal Reuniting With ‘Southpaw’ Director Antoine Fuqua For Remake Of Danish Thriller ‘The Guilty’ By Hoai-Tran Bui/Sept. 15, 2020 4:30 pm EST Jake Gyllenhaal is going another round with his Southpaw director Antoine Fuqua. Gyllenhaal is starring in a remake of the phenomenal Danish thriller, The Guilty, which Fuqua has just signed on to direct. Filming is set to begin this November under COVID-19 restrictions. Deadline reports that Gyllenhaal and Fuqua are set to reunite, five years after the star and director first worked together in 2015’s boxing drama Southpaw, with the one-location thriller The Guilty....

LOL: ‘Middle-Aged Mutant Ninja Turtles’ Return In This Cut ‘SNL’ Animated Short By Ethan Anderton/Dec. 21, 2020 6:00 am EST The final Saturday Night Live of 2020 was full of holiday hilarity thanks to the return of Kristen Wiig for the official Christmas episode. In fact, there were so many sketches that there was an entire animated short that didn’t make it to air. Middle-Aged Mutant Ninja Turtles is a hilariously depressing take on the classic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series that thrived in from the late 1980s through the mid 1990s....

Quibi Trailer Brings A Bunch Of New Shows To A Phone Near You By Hoai-Tran Bui/Feb. 26, 2020 4:30 pm EST Quibi is amping up its promotion as we near the April launch of the mobile streaming platform. While it’s still uncertain whether the experiment behind this forthcoming streaming service — which offers its titles in “bite-sized” episodes that run 8-1o minutes long — will work, but Quibi certainly has enough high-profile creators and stars to cut together a catchy trailer for its platform....

Rose Tico’s Limited Role In ‘Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker’ Was Due To “Difficulty” With Carrie Fisher CGI, But Not Really [Updated] By Hoai-Tran Bui/Dec. 30, 2019 7:30 am EST Update: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker co-writer Chris Terrio walked back his comments blaming the limits of CGI technology on the cut scenes between Kelly Marie Tran and Carrie Fisher, who appeared through previously shot footage. Calls of “Where’s Rose?...

Sam Raimi Is Returning To Directing Horror Movies With Project Described As “Misery Meets Cast Away” By Chris Evangelista/Oct. 18, 2019 1:42 pm EST After spending the last few years only producing horror films, Sam Raimi appears ready to get back in the director’s chair. The Evil Dead filmmaker is set to direct a new horror movie set on an island from writers Mark Swift and Damian Shannon. Specific plot details are being kept under wraps, but the project is being described as Misery meets Cast Away....

Star Wars Bits: The High Republic, Lucasfilm Games, Ahsoka Tano’s Future, A Tribute To Boba Fett, And More! By Adam Frazier/Jan. 17, 2021 10:00 am EST In this edition of Star Wars Bits: Star Wars: The High Republic is Here A New Era of Star Wars Gaming with Lucasfilm Games Rosario Dawson on Bringing Ahsoka Tano to Live-Action Tribute to Jeremy Bulloch, the Original Boba Fett Star Wars Podcast & YouTube Round-Up Exclusive Star Wars Collectible Replica Box Sets from Zavvi And more!...

Starz Says ‘American Gods’ Is Back On Track, Explains ‘Counterpart’ Cancellation [TCA 2019] By Fred Topel/July 29, 2019 1:00 pm EST Starz CEO Jeffrey Hirsch spoke to the Television Critics Association on Friday and announced some new shows and renewals. The Girlfriend Experience is getting a third season. Starz is producing Dangerous Liaisons as a series. Steven Soderbergh is making an unscripted series called Leavenworth . During the Q&A, questions about Starz’s American Gods and cancellations of Now Apocalypse and Counterpart also came up, while the creators of Power had a surprise announcement too....

The ‘Watchmen’ Reference Guide: Every Easter Egg In “A God Walks Into Abar” By Rafael Motamayor/Dec. 9, 2019 8:00 am EST It finally happened. Just like with Lost, and The Leftovers, Damon Lindelof revealed he was using the mystery and the craziness of Watchmen just to tell a sweet love story – this time between a woman and a god. And what a love story it was, as Chris Evangelista puts it in his recap of the episode, “Watchmen becomes unstuck in time....

The Baby Yoda Merchandise Onslaught Has Begun, More Coming Very Soon By Ben Pearson/Nov. 21, 2019 2:30 pm EST Showrunner Jon Favreau has talked about how Disney let him keep a lot of the toy companies in the dark to avoid information about the little Yoda-esque character leaking out before the show debuted, but it seems like Disney isn’t going to let the holiday season come and go without offering at least some Baby Yoda merch for the diehard fans who can’t get enough of the little green alien....

The Morning Watch: ‘Avengers: Endgame’ VFX Extravaganza Highlights Impressive Effects By Ethan Anderton/Sept. 13, 2019 5:00 am EST The Morning Watch is a recurring feature that highlights a handful of noteworthy videos from around the web. They could be video essays, fanmade productions, featurettes, short films, hilarious sketches, or just anything that has to do with our favorite movies and TV shows. In this edition, there have been a handful of breakdowns of Avengers: Endgame visual effects recently, but the past week brought a whole new batch that really digs deep into the extensive post-production work done in order to bring the epic comic book sequel to life....

The Morning Watch: Evolution Of Iron Man VFX, ‘The Simpsons’ Steamed Hams Meets A-Ha’s “Take On Me” & More By Ethan Anderton/July 15, 2020 5:00 am EST The Morning Watch is a recurring feature that highlights a handful of noteworthy videos from around the web. They could be video essays, fanmade productions, featurettes, short films, hilarious sketches, or just anything that has to do with our favorite movies and TV shows....

The Morning Watch: Making ‘Star Trek’ Romulan Ale, The Melody That Represents Death In Film & More By Ethan Anderton/Sept. 17, 2019 5:00 am EST The Morning Watch is a recurring feature that highlights a handful of noteworthy videos from around the web. They could be video essays, fanmade productions, featurettes, short films, hilarious sketches, or just anything that has to do with our favorite movies and TV shows. In this edition, learn about the four-note melody that has represented death in films like Star Wars and It’s a Wonderful Life for decades....

Two New ‘Star Wars’ Manga Adaptations Arrive This Fall By Ben Pearson/May 15, 2020 1:30 pm EST Stories from the Star Wars franchise have been adapted into manga before, but two new adaptations are coming this fall from Yen Press, and they’re both set before the events of A New Hope. Star Wars Rebels and author Claudia Gray’s young adult novel Leia, Princess of Alderaan are each getting the manga treatment....