Posts

“SNL” has become increasingly flexible in recent years, allowing top cast members to take hiatuses to work on other projects as an attempt to keep them on the show. Still, the grueling schedule inevitably gets old and most cast members eventually move on. One name who could be plotting his exit? Michael Che, who has co-hosted “Weekend Update” with Colin Jost since 2014. The two men are also the show’s head writers, but that arrangement could change very soon....

That was certainly the case in “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” their sophomore feature that incorporated butt plugs and hot dog hands into pivotal scenes. In a new interview with Variety, the film’s star Michelle Yeoh opened up about the difficult process of filming those scenes, and what they ultimately meant to her. “The hot dog scene is the most beautiful love story in that universe,” Yeoh said. “We had these hot dog fingers; this is where I believe that filmmaking is a complete collaboration on all the different levels....

Caro’s film tips to its predecessors early on, as Mulan’s beloved father Hua Zhou (beautifully portrayed by Tzi Ma) announces in voiceover that “there have been many tales of the great warrior Mulan,” and this one is simply joining their ranks. Fans of the original animated hit will be able to pick out a slew of differences early on, thanks to a significantly expanded first act that offers a deeper look at Mulan (Crystal Rao, playing a plucky young version of the title character before ceding to Liu) and her early years....

“We looked at actors that we admired and began researching their family history. With some, we found quite a lot. With others, we found just a snippet,” Anstiss said. “Then it was our job to really structure a journey, in collaboration with all the actors, about the unanswered questions that they had about their grandparents’ lives.” “My Grandparents’ War” focuses on that time period surrounding World War II and how the family of each episode’s main subject was involved....

And while Brando certainly could have been a contender for big laughs in the role, co-star Natasha Lyonne recalled an awkward yet “A-OK” experience with the screen legend. “I have a VHS copy of the dailies that I got because Marlon Brando’s final role — sadly for him, but luckily for me — is doing this ‘Exorcist’ opening teaser,” Lyonne told Entertainment Weekly. “I don’t know what he was thinking, really....

For Netflix’s adaptation of the adventures of the Lord of Dreams (Tom Sturridge) across time, space, and sometimes Washington Square Park, one of the core creative decisions involved how closely this “Sandman” would, or even could, mirror the style of the comics. What could it create in place of the abstract and iconic impressions that only comics’ particular format of sequential words and pictures can deliver? Much like a dream, a drawing is tangible — but only just....

The buzzy titles are in addition to an already-announced main slate, which includes Julia Ducournau’s Palme d’Or winner “Titane,” festival opener “The Tragedy of Macbeth” from Joel Coen, and Pedro Almodóvar’s “Parallel Mothers,” the closing film. Additionally, the festival announced Thursday a retrospective sidebar paying tribute to the centenary of late film programmer and festival co-founder Amos Vogel. Titles include films from Glauber Rocha, John Huston, and trailblazers of the Czech New Wave, a world premiere restoration of Robert Frerck’s “Nebula II,” and much more....