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I've watched a few online streaming movies recently and have noticed a big change in on aspect. A LOT of the actors/actresses are now smoking again. Apparently the tobacco industry has gone woke enough for the film industry to begin supporting them again even though we DO know that smoking can cause cancer. I find that ironic since the movie business at one time was rabidly anti-smoking. Why the change? Has to be something with the money flow. Another point. I have yet to watch a movie where any of the general public are wearing Covid masks. Maybe I'm vision...

The Godfather will return to select movie theaters in honor of its 50th anniversary. Paramount Pictures said in a press release Thursday that the 1972 film will have a limited theatrical release at AMC Theatres in the United States. The Godfather will screen in Dolby Vision and Dolby Cinema beginning Feb. 22. In addition, The Godfather trilogy -- The Godfather (1972), The Godfather Part II (1974) and The Godfather Part III (1990) -- has been restored and will be available in 4K Ultra HD for the first time beginning March 22. The films are based on Mario Puzo's novel The...

She has played the Queen and a gangster’s moll but her latest casting has sparked controversyNobody is quite what they seem. And actors? Well, for actors that’s the job. Dame Helen Mirren, as well as being herself for 76 years, has by now notably been Lady Macbeth, a London gangster’s moll, a thief’s wife, an alcoholic cop, an action hero, Prospero and also a British monarch at least four times. Now she takes on Golda Meir, the late prime minister of Israel, in a new biopic, and the casting has caused controversy. The choice of a non-Jewish actor to star...

The Greatest Story Ever ToldThe Greatest Story Ever Told is a 1965 American epic film produced and directed by George Stevens. It is a retelling of the Biblical account about Jesus of Nazareth, from the Nativity through to the Ascension. Along with the ensemble cast, it is Claude Rains' final film role.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Greatest_Story_Ever_Told(Claude Rains as Herod the Great)Matthew 218 In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not. 19 But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a...

In 2022, Earth is overpopulated and totally polluted; the natural resources have been exhausted and the nourishment of the population is provided by Soylent Industries, a company that makes a food consisting of plankton from the oceans.

The box office news from earlier this December was mixed. The stupendous success of the latest Spider-Man sequel, No Way Home, indicated that fears of the Omicron variant have not deterred audiences from coming out in the millions: it grossed $260 million at the US box office and $600 million globally. But it also trampled other less franchise-friendly films. Guillermo del Toro’s new picture Nightmare Alley debuted to a dismal $3 million, and Steven Spielberg’s version of West Side Story will be one of the director’s greatest flops, having grossed a mere $18 million in the US so far. The...

"...a lot of these films that do simultaneous release on streaming platforms and movie theater it's difficult to know how good it did..."

We think of It's a Wonderful Life as a great American movie, a great Jimmy Stewart movie, a great Frank Capra movie — and, of course, as a great Christmas movie. We don't think of it as a great Italian-American movie. But we should, especially at Christmastime, when Italian-Americans — of Capra's generation and beyond — can be heard in every shop and restaurant singing many of the songs that define the season. Capra was born in Sicily, and at age 6 moved to Los Angeles. It's a Wonderful Life is spiced with subtle but significant references to his fellow...

"The debate over whether Die Hard is a Christmas movie or not rages anew every December. Fans of the Bruce Willis action classic will likely litigate this until the end of time. That debate extends to the cast and crew, as well. Recently, another star of the film weighed in to say yes, Die Hard is as Christmas as It’s a Wonderful Life. De’voreaux White, who played Argyle, John McClane’s limo driver, recently wrote a piece for Newsweek about his time on the Bruce Willis classic and how he landed the gig. About halfway into the column, White lays the...

China will be the world’s largest box office market for the second year running, overturning the decade-long rankings and staying ahead of the North American market as it did in for the first time in 2020. And, even if “Spider-Man: No Way Home” avoids becoming caught in a web of omicron-related shutdowns to become the highest grossing film of 2021, Chinese movies “The Battle at Lake Changjin” and “Hi, Mom” are certain to account for at least two of the year’s top five. Such a new world order has been long anticipated by some in Beijing, though it did not...

In late September, Foundation debuted on Apple TV+, bringing Isaac Asimov’s sci-fi franchise to the screen for the first time. “The series of books was long held to be unfilmable,” the BBC said. Less than a month later, Dune arrived on HBO Max and in domestic multiplexes, having hit international theaters weeks before. The movie marked the first attempt in more than 20 years to translate Frank Herbert’s books to the screen, after multiple prior tries that resulted in an unforgettable flop of a film and two forgettable TV miniseries. “Dune has earned a reputation for being ‘unfilmable,’” Time observed.The...

Anyone watching this classic now on ABC?

I had serious reservations about the Steven Spielberg version of the film classic West Side Story. Rumors of wokeness haunted the new movie from the first casting call through to its dismal opening weekend. I expected to wince throughout, but Spielberg did something brave and unexpected. He gave the Jets a rationale for their existence and their resistance. The 1961 original did not. As a 14-year-old living in a "transitional" neighborhood very much like the one the Jets and Sharks inhabited and not far away, I fully identified with the white gang, the Jets. My friends, even my black friends,...

The investigation into exactly what happened on the set of the film Rust that led to a cinematographer's death is heating up. On Thursday, a search warrant was issued for actor Alec Baldwin’s cellphone. According to an affidavit filed in Santa Fe Magistrate Court, authorities asked for the iPhone in order to examine conversations between Alec Baldwin and a violent crimes detective with the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office. The new development comes just weeks after Alec Baldwin's widely viewed ABC interview in which he said he never pulled the trigger. Baldwin claims that he was holding the Colt .45...

The new “West Side Story” is, so far, a box-office flop. Steven Spielberg’s much-anticipated remake of the landmark 1961 musical received rave reviews and has been called a masterpiece. Yet its first weekend theatrical release yielded only $10.5 million, which Variety called “a dismal result for a movie of its scale and scope.” --- It’s not woke, it’s wonderful. “America,” that most American of songs, so knowing but not jaded, is done differently from the original but better, more communally, and it’s just as joyous and comic. The Journal’s Joe Morgenstern used exactly the right word to describe this movie:...

Full disclosure: I despise Steven Spielberg movies and dislike both Romeo and Juliet and the 1961 West Side Story (WSS) movie. For that reason, I take particular delight in noting that Steven Spielberg's remake of WSS may have enthralled critics, but no one is rushing to see it. And no wonder, given that it's so darn woke that parts of it are in a language most Americans don't speak, but Spielberg refused to include subtitles.Let me quickly get through my biases. I hate Steven Spielberg movies because I find them overblown, predictable, and incredibly boring. I also dislike the way...

This is an introduction to a movie reviewer who goes by the name The Critical Drinker. I thought there might be a few of my fellow Freepers who would appreciate his reviews. DO NOT CLICK if you are offended by naughty language. DO NOT CLICK if you don't want to view a video.

NEW YORK (AP) — Despite critical acclaim and two years-worth of anticipation, Steven Spielberg’s lavish “West Side Story” revival made little noise at the box office, debuting with $10.5 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday — a worrisome result for a movie industry struggling to recapture its finger-snapping rhythm. A dazzling widescreen adaptation and Spielberg’s first musical, “West Side Story” was one of the year’s most eagerly awaited titles. With a script by Tony Kushner and Rita Moreno returning to her breakthrough film 60 years later, the $100-million “West Side Story” epitomizes a grand-scale prestige film that...

Director Steven Spielberg’s woke West Side Story remake is a box office catastrophe expected to open in the $10 million range. How awful is that? Well, do you remember that previous woke catastrophe, In the Heights? It opened to $11.5 million. West Side Story is projected to bomb harder than In the Heights, lol. Even so, the In the Heights’ production budget was only $55 million.

"West Side Story" had little to sing about this weekend. 20th Century Studios' remake of the 1961 classic musical brought in an estimated $10.5 million for its opening in North America this weekend. This total was below expectations, which projected the film to make closer to $15 million in its debut weekend. The total is a bit surprising considering that the film had a lot working in its favor. For starters, it is directed by Steven Spielberg, one of the most recognizable and blockbuster directors in history. His name alone appeared to not be enough to get people to buy...