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Quentin Tarantino is undoubtedly one of the finest filmmakers of our time. But as much as he is a passionate filmmaker, he is also a passionate cinephile: having absorbed the best that contemporary cinema has to offer since childhood, Tarantino bases his work on the most recognizable tropes and directorial styles, creating a refined pop culture mishmash. And as a huge film buff, Tarantino shared a list of the 20 films he 'admires the most' in a conversation with Sky Movies in 2009.

20 Must-Watch Movies According to Tarantino

Before we get to the list itself, it's important to note that it's not in order of importance, but in alphabetical order. Except for the number one, because for Tarantino it is 'favorite movie that has come out in the last 17 years.' Besides, as he pointed out, this is one of the few movies he would personally dream of directing.

But without further ado,...

Following a limited theatrical release, director Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire (read our review Here) was released through the Netflix streaming service back in December, then Rebel Moon: Part Two – The Scargiver (read our review of that one Here) reached the service last month… but we’ve known from early on that these PG-13 versions of the movies wouldn’t be the only versions we’d see. Snyder has also put together extended director’s cut of both films, which will each have around an hour of additional footage. They’re expected to be released through Netflix sometime this summer, possibly in August, and the director’s cut of Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire just got its rating from the Motion Picture Association ratings board. It earned an R for brutal bloody violence and gore, sexual content, graphic nudity and language.

Duris stars as a father protecting his son, who may or may not be mutating, in Thomas Cailley’s well-crafted thriller

Thomas Cailley’s sci-fi fantasy has too much sensitivity and good taste to be the proper horror-thriller or creature feature that it almost resembles. It’s a drama of emotions and ideas about post-Covid society – which is welcome enough – but with a dash of prosthetics and CGI and some scares. I felt something very similar about Bong Joon-ho’s monster film The Host back in 2006: the worthiness operates against the excitement and I found myself wanting something more gleefully crass and shocking, something more ironic or thrillingly callous. The Animal Kingdom seems squeamish about going for the jugular in the way a proper genre movie would – or a Marvel movie.

The scene is a France of the near future in which there has been an outbreak of some...

Actress Saoirse Ronan ("Foe") poses for the latest issue of "Harper’s Bazaar" (UK) magazine, wearing Gucci and Cartier, photographed by Agata Pospieszynka:

Ronan is a two-time 'Academy Award' nominee, receiving a 'Best Supporting Actress' nomination for her breakthrough role as 'Briony Tallis' in "Atonement" (2007) and a 'Best Actress' nomination for her role as 'Eilis Lacey' in "Brooklyn" (2015).

Ronan has also received three 'BAFTA Award' nominations, two 'Golden Globe' nominations, two 'Screen Actors Guild' nominations and a 'Satellite Award'.

Her feature film debut was in the romantic comedy "I Could Never Be Your Woman" (2007), followed by roles in "City of Ember" (2008), "The Lovely Bones" (2009), "Hanna" (2011), "The Way Back" (2010), "Byzantium" (2012), "The Host" (2013), "The Grand Budapest Hotel" (2014) and "Lady Bird (2017).

March 2016, she made her Broadway debut in a revival of "The Crucible", playing 'Abigail Williams'.

Ronan played 'Jo March' in Greta Gerwig's "Little Women" (2019), followed by 'Charlotte Murchison' in...

If you’re looking for something new to watch on HBO Max, you’ve come to the right place. Below, we’ve assembled a curated selection of some of the best new movies streaming this month, from artful family films to smart monster movies to goofy comedies and beyond. So eliminate the need to scroll through HBO Max’s library and check out one of these fine films below.

Coraline

Spooky, sweet and wholly unique, “Coraline” is a stop-motion animated gem that marked the beginning of the road for animation studio Laika. Hailing from “Nightmare Before Christmas” director Henry Selick, the film is an adaptation of the Neil Gaiman novella of the same name and follows a young girl who discovers a parallel universe with sinister versions of her parents. Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher and Keith David lead the voice cast. This one’s a treat for kids and adults alike,...

Take a look at new images of actress Saoirse Ronan, posing for the April 2023 issue of "Document Journal", photographed by Malick Bodian:

Ronan is a two-time 'Academy Award' nominee, receiving a 'Best Supporting Actress' nomination for her breakthrough role as 'Briony Tallis' in "Atonement" (2007) and a 'Best Actress' nomination for her role as 'Eilis Lacey' in "Brooklyn" (2015). 

Ronan has also received three 'BAFTA Award' nominations, two 'Golden Globe' nominations, two 'Screen Actors Guild' nominations and a 'Satellite Award'.

Her feature film debut was in the romantic comedy "I Could Never Be Your Woman" (2007), followed by roles in "City of Ember" (2008), "The Lovely Bones" (2009), "Hanna" (2011), "The Way Back" (2010), "Byzantium" (2012), "The Host" (2013), "The Grand Budapest Hotel" (2014) and "Lady Bird (2017).

March 2016, she made her Broadway debut in a revival of "The Crucible", playing 'Abigail Williams'.

Ronan played 'Jo March' in Greta Gerwig's "Little Women" (2019), followed by 'Charlotte Murchison' in...

When the initial list of titles debuting at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival was announced last week we wrote that there would be more to come. We know that Wes Anderson, Todd Haynes, and Jonathan Glazer will compete with international directors like Wang Bing, Wim Wenders, Alice Rohwacher, and Nuri Bilge Ceylan for the Palme D’Or, and that Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon,” James Mangold’s “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” Steve McQueen’s documentary “Occupied City,” and Sam Levinson’s series “The Idol” will also show out-of-competition at le Palais des Festivals et des Congrès adjacent to one of the Mediterranean’s most famous yacht basins.

But just a short stroll down le Boulevard de la Croisette (though it can sometimes take ya 15 minutes or more when it’s crowded) is the Jw Marriott Cannes, completed in 1992, and wow do those peach-pastel colors and gold-tinted glass show it!

Oh Dal-soo began his acting career in theater in Busan, and since 2001 has been the head of theater company Singiru Manhwagyeong (“Mirage and Kaleidoscope”). His rich experience on the stage, in local productions such as Ogu, later made Oh an in-demand supporting/character actor on the big screen, with him having appeared in a number of the most renowned films the country produced that last two decades, including “Old Boy”, ” A Bittersweet Life”, “The Host”, “The Thieves”, “Veteran” ” Along with the Gods” and many others. Following sexual harassment allegations in 2018, he withdraw from the industry for some years, before returning to acting in 2021 with the independent “The Blacklist” after the investigation concluded with him not being put in trial.

On the occasion of the release of “The Blacklist” by Echelon Studios, Oh Dal-soo answered some questions regarding his character in the movie, his cooperation with the director, choosing the particular role,...

Among the most difficult tasks a film could possibly tackle, surely “making the audience fall in love with the people who sell babies for cash” would have to be somewhere near the top of the list. It’s easy to feel the ice dripping down the audience’s collective back throughout the early minutes of South Korean film Broker, determined in our collective judgment against these guys. Even as the characters get in the odd joke, Japanese writer-director-editor Hirokazu Kore-eda’s script never lets us forget who and what these people are.

But Kore-eda is a sorcerer of human emotion. Through tender, attentive observation and a fair dose of sentimentality, Broker’s protagonists become the bedrock of a strange little family, an odd band of misfits we root for, even as a sense of dread tugs at the heart. A forlorn story injected with so much love and far more comedy than one might expect,...

We’ve got some huge, huge, huge news for gorehounds!

Get your Screambox subscription locked in for the next year because we just picked up streaming rights to Well Go USA’s festival smash hit Project Wolf Hunting, which is straight-up one of the goriest and most violent action slashers I’ve ever seen!

The film is explosively fun, a high-octane beast of a splatterfest that’s jam-packed with midnight chaos from broken bones to exploding heads.

Project Wolf Hunting plays out a bit like a superior version of Jason Takes Manhattan, blended in a mixer with everything from Resident Evil to Predator and Con Air.

Project Wolf Hunting, which Nightmare on Film Street hailed as “one of the most savage, bloodthirsty action movies of the year,” will be available for Screambox and Hi-yah! subscribers exclusively to stream beginning May 15, 2023.

ScreenDaily first reported the news this afternoon.

In the film,...

The X-Files, for all its later imitators was a unique show. One aspect of that uniqueness was the way it blended mytharc episodes about alien abductions, alien invasions, and government conspiracies with Monster of the Week episodes about paranormal criminals. These usually had a pretty strong thread of horror running through them and dealt with some classic “horror” creatures – vampires, werewolves, and ghosts, among others. They also devoted a large number of episodes to serial killers with varying degrees of paranormal abilities, since Mulder and Scully were FBI agents and a murder spree was the most obvious reason to put them on a case.

And so, for Halloween, we present the 13 scariest hours of The X-Files for your viewing pleasure!

13. The Host

The ‘Flukeman’, the Monster of the Week in ‘The Host’, is best remembered for one of freakiest monster designs of the series. Played by one of the show...

Song Kang-ho, the Korean actor who starred in Oscar-winning black comedy “Parasite” has grabbed headlines again with news of his philanthropic activities.

Song, who recently won the best actor award at Cannes for his turn in “Broker,” was reported to have given KRW100 million this month to Hope Bridge Association of Korea’s National Disaster Relief aimed at helping the victims of recent wildfires in South Korea’s eastern coastal region.

The news was reported Friday by the Korea Times newspaper. It quoted Song’s agency Sublime, as saying: “Song has been thinking about how to return some of the love he has received from fans. He realized one way to do it was to donate money to neighbors in need. He will be engaged in the sharing culture.

The Hope Bridge Association confirmed that the gift from Song was the second donation by the acting star. He gave a...

Click here to read the full article.

Miky Lee, vice chair of Korean media giant Cj Group, will be honored by the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences with its 2022 International Emmy Directorate Award, in celebration of her life’s work.

In her position at Cj, Lee championed a new generation of Korean directors, including Park Chan-wook and Bong Joon Ho, helping launch the global Korean wave. Her executive producer credits include Lady Vengeance, The Host, Snowpiercer, The Handmaiden and Parasite, which made history in 2020 when it became the first Korean-language film (or non-English-language film of any kind) to win the Oscar for best picture.

Lee spearheaded Cj’s investment in DreamWorks Skg in 1995, starting the Korean company’s global rise.

On the TV side, Lee oversaw the English-language series adaptation of Snowpiercer, which wrapped its third season on TNT earlier this year and picked up a 2022 Emmy nomination for outstanding special visual effects.

In a collaboration that feels tailor-made to excite Twitter, “Minari” actor Steven Yeun has been cast to star alongside Robert Pattinson in Bong Joon Ho’s next movie. Though the film, set at Warner Bros., does not have a title, the science-fiction story is based on Edward Ashton’s novel “Mickey7.”

The project reunites Yeun and Bong, who previously worked together on Netflix’s allegorical drama “Okja” in 2017.

According to the book’s publisher, St. Martin Press, the high-concept cerebral thriller could be described as “The Martian” meets “Dark Matter.” It follows an “expendable” — a disposable employee on a human expedition sent to colonize the ice world Niflheim — who refuses to let his replacement clone, dubbed Mickey8, take his place. Plot details for the movie have not been confirmed, and it’s not clear how closely Bong (who is also writing the screenplay) plans to stick to the source material.

From slashers, to zombies, eco horror, and much, much more, MoMA's "Horror: Messaging the Monstrous" is a 10-week film series that includes 110 films, including a 3D screening of George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead! Featuring horror from around the world and taking place from June 23rd through September 5th, we have all the details so you can start planning your visit! Full program details can also be found at: moma.org/horror

Press Release:

The Museum of Modern Art announces Horror: Messaging the Monstrous, a 10-week film series that includes over 110 features and a selection of short films that capture the horror genre’s uncanny ability to express the lurking fears of a society and the anxieties caused by social, cultural, and political change. Presented in the Museum’s Titus Theaters in the Black Family Film Center from June 23 through September 5, 2022, Horror: Messaging the Monstrous is organized weekly...

“Broker,” the unconventional family drama which appeared in competition at last month’s Cannes Film Festival, topped the box office in South Korea on Wednesday, its opening day.

“Broker” grossed 1.10 million, enough to depose crime actioner “The Roundup” from the top spot that it had enjoyed for the past three weeks and which had made it the highest performing film this year.

According to data from the Kobis tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council, “Broker” played on 1,590 screens and sold 145,000 tickets for Wednesday screenings. Its cumulative total of 1.15 million includes some 44,000 of previews earned on 14 screens.

The feat by a local art-house film gives further support to the notion that cinema attendance is rebounding in Korea. The country was formerly the world’s fourth biggest theatrical market, thanks to high per-capita rates of attendance.

The Korean theatrical industry, however, was moribund through much of 2020 and 2021 due to Covid restrictions,...

Angus MacLane, animation veteran and director of the new Pixar adventure Lightyear, discusses his favorite movies with hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Taking Off (1971)

Reign of Terror (1949)

Kiss Me Deadly (1955) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s review

Lightyear (2022)

Toy Story (1995)

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) – Brian Trenchard-Smith’s trailer commentary, Dennis Cozzalio’s Beyond Furious series, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Innerspace (1987) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Mars Attacks! (1996)

The ’Burbs (1989) – Ti West’s trailer commentary, ’Burbs Mania at Tfh

Alive (1993)

Star Wars (1977)

Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs (1937)

The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999)

The Matrix (1999)

Alien (1979) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing

Aliens (1986) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Tron (1982)

The Blues Brothers (1980) – Adam Rifkin’s trailer commentary

Howard The Duck (1986) – Alex Kirschenbaum’s review

Wall-e (2008)

Predator 2 (1990)

Alien vs. Predator...

Cj Enm has sold the film to more than 190 counties.

Korea’s Cj Enm has sold out across the world on Park Chan-wook’s Decision To Leave, which premiered in Competition at Cannes yesterday (May 23).

The romantic thriller, starring Park Hae-il (The Host) and Chinese actress Tang Wei, has pre-sold to 192 regions – close to the highest sales in Korean film history held by Bong Joon Ho’s Oscar and Palme d’Or winner Parasite, also handled by Cj.

Buyers include Bac Films for France, MovieCloud (Taiwan), Mubi, Happinet Phantom Studios (Japan), Koch Films (Germany), Lucky Red (Italy), Madman (Australia and...

After a brief tease last week, a new look at one of our most-anticipated Cannes Film Festival premieres has arrived. Marking Park Chan-wook’s first feature since 2016’s The Handmaiden, Decision to Leave finds the director in mystery melodrama mode and now the first full trailer and a pair of clips have landed. Recently picked up by Mubi for a US and UK theatrical release this fall, the film will get a June 29 release in South Korea.

Led by Tang Wei and Park Hae-il, the official Cannes Film Festival site posted a lengthier synopsis as well as a confirmed runtime of 2 hours and 18 minutes.

A man falls from a mountain peak to his death. The detective in charge, Hae-joon (Park Hae-il), comes to meet the dead man’s wife Seo-rae (Tang Wei).

“I worry when he does not come back from a mountain, thinking he might die at last.”

Seo-rae...

Multimedia Music today announced it has closed a deal to acquire master and publishing rights to a 48-title film score catalog from Atlantic Screen Music in what it calls a “mid-seven figure transaction.”

Atlantic Screen Music includes rights to scores including “2 Guns,” “Lone Survivor,” “The Host,” “Dredd,” “Escape Plan” and “Broken City.” Multimedia said that, cumulatively, the films have grossed hundreds of millions of dollars at the global box office and even more through ancillary channels.

Composers with works featured in the catalog include Max Richter, Lorne Balfe (“Frozen Ground”), John Paesano (“Hirokin”), John Debney (“Alex Cross”), Atticus Ross (“Broken City”), Antonio Pinto (“The Host”), Steve Jablonsky (“Lone Survivor”), Clinton Shorter (“2 Guns”) and Paul Leonard Morgan (“Dredd”).

“We are thrilled to acquire this catalog of premium film scores,” said Multimedia Music managing partner James Gibb. “Atlantic Screen Music includes scores from highly successful films produced by leading filmmakers,...

Mubi has acquired the North American, UK and other territories rights to “Decision to Leave,” the new film from “Oldboy” and “The Handmaiden” director Park Chan-wook, an individual with knowledge told TheWrap.

Park’s film is a Korean crime drama and is playing in the main competition at Cannes next month. “Decision to Leave” tells the story of a detective investigating the death of a man in the mountains, only to develop an interest in the dead man’s mysterious wife once she becomes a suspect in the case.

“Decision to Leave” stars Tang Wei and Park Hae-il (“The Host”). The film is a presentation of Cj Enm (“Parasite”) and was produced by Moho Film.

Mubi is also planning a theatrical release for “Decision to Leave” in the U.S. and the UK for the fall of 2022, followed by an exclusive streamer premiere on the Mubi platform.

The art-house streamer...

“Decision to Leave,” the detective mystery by Korean director Park Chan-wook that will debut in competition in Cannes next month, is to be given theatrical releases in the U.S. and U.K. by streaming platform Mubi.

Mubi, which pitches itself as a global distributor, streaming service and production company, picked up multiple territory rights including North America, U.K., Ireland, Turkey, and India, in a deal with South Korea’s Cj Entertainment.

“The film will be released theatrically in the U.S. and the U.K. with fall 2022 release dates planned, followed by an exclusive Mubi streaming release,” Mubi said.

“Decision to Leave” was produced by Moho Film and is presented by “Parasite” studio Cj Enm.

The film stars Park Hae-il and China’s Tang Wei in a tale about a detective who develops a personal interest in the woman who should be the chief suspect in his ongoing murder investigation.

Exclusive: Park Chan-wook’s anticipated Cannes Competition title Decision to Leave has sold to arthouse streamer, theatrical distributor and producer Mubi in what we understand to be the company’s biggest film deal to date.

Mubi, which has made waves in the past 12 months for its voracious appetite for significant festival movies and its acquisition of German sales firm The Match Factory, has picked up Decision to Leave for North America, the UK, Ireland, Turkey, and India.

The film will be released theatrically in the U.S. and the UK with a fall 2022 date planned, followed by an exclusive Mubi streaming release. Parasite outfit Cj is handling international sales and negotiated the deal with the growing arthouse player.

Korean-language thriller Decision to Leave charts the aftermath of a man falling from a mountain peak to his death. The detective in charge of the investigation, Hae-joon, comes to meet the dead man’s wife Seo-rae.

One of the major titles of the 2022 Cannes Film Festival lineup is from Hirokazu Koreeda, who last visited the festival with Shoplifters and took home the Palme d’Or. Broker, which is his first South Korean project features the all-star cast of Song Kang-ho (Parasite), Bae Doona, Kang Dong-won (Train to Busan Presents: Peninsula), and the popular artist Iu aka Lee Ji-eun. Ahead of the premiere, the first international trailer has landed.

Shot by cinematographer Hong Kyung-pyo the film centers on baby boxes, in which parents who aren’t able to provide for their babies anonymously give them. Unfortunately, there are no English subtitles yet but this first trailer hints at a rather light tone as Kore-eda explores, once again, family in its many forms.

Watch below.

The post First Trailer for Hirokazu Koreeda's Broker Arrives Ahead of Cannes 2022 Premiere first appeared on The Film Stage.

With only a few days to go until the 2022 Cannes Film Festival lineup will be unveiled, we already have some hints as to what will premiere at the festival. Jumping from Japan to France for The Truth, Hirokazu Koreeda then headed to South Korea for his next project. Going by a few titles since its announcement, those involved seemed to have settled on Baby Broker (per the official social accounts) and now the first poster has been unveiled.

Featuring the all-star cast of Song Kang-ho (Parasite), Bae Doona, Kang Dong-won (Train to Busan Presents: Peninsula), and the popular artist Iu aka Lee Ji-eun, the poster reveals a June 2022 release date in Japan, which means a Cannes debut is likely in the card.

If confirmed, this would mark the director’s return to the festival, last appearing there with his 2018 Palme d’Or winner Shoplifters. Baby Broker was shot by cinematographer...

Merely a year after seeing success with “Beat”, director Kim Sung-soo would once again team up with his star from that production, Jung Woo-sung, for yet another tale of friendship and neglected youth in “City of the Rising Sun”. Only this time, Jung would also bring along for the ride his real-life best friend Lee Jung-jae, who had seen moderate success the previous year with “An Affair” for a star-making and award-winning turn.

“City of the Rising Sun” is screening at Florence Korea Film Festival

The real-life best friends play reel-life friends too. Do-chul, played by Jung Woo-sung, is a boxer who has the skill and passion for the sport but isn’t really cut out for the game, winning nothing but cuts, bruises and concussions. Lee Jung-jae’s Hong-gi, meanwhile, is a low-level gangster working as a debt collector for a loan shark who places money above all else.

Exclusive: Comedian and actor Bill Burr (F Is for Family) is writing, directing and starring alongside Emmy winner Bobby Cannavale (Boardwalk Empire) and Emmy nominee Bokeem Woodbine (Fargo) in the original comedy Old Dads, which Miramax has come aboard to produce in conjunction with Burr’s All Things Comedy.

Burr’s feature directorial debut centers on a middle-aged father (Burr) and his two best friends (Cannavale and Woodbine) who after selling their company to a millennial, find themselves out of step and behind the times as they hilariously struggle to navigate a changing world of culture, career and fatherhood. Burr and Ben Tishler penned the script and are producing with Bill Block, Monica Levinson and Mike Bertolina. Production kicked off in Los Angeles yesterday.

“I’m very excited to start shooting Old Dads,” said Burr. “This comedy is based on my own and my co-writer,...

The Florence Korea Film Fest is 20 years old this year! The most important Italian festival dedicated to the best of contemporary South Korean cinema will bring again in 2022 films, documentaries, trends and movie stars to Florence from 7 to 15 April at La Compagnia cinema and online on the Più Compagnia and MyMovies platforms.

Here are some anticipations:

To inaugurate the festival, the Italian premiere of “Heaven: to the Land of happiness” by Im Sang-soo, cult director of Korean cinema: a road movie starring Choi Min-sik in the role of a terminally ill inmate who runs away with Park Hae-il (“The Host”) also seriously ill who cannot afford the necessary treatment. The two men meet by chance and decide to leave together for an adventure that will become their journey in search of happiness. Also in the cast Yuh-Jung Youn, Soonja’s the unconventional grandmother from “Minari”.

The long-awaited Italian premiere of...

Writer/director Guillermo del Toro discusses a few of his favorite movies with Josh and Joe.

Show Notes:

Movies Referenced In This Episode

Nightmare Alley (2021)

Nightmare Alley (1947) – Stuart Gordon’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review

Drive My Car (2021)

Wicked Woman (1953) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (2022)

Modern Times (1936)

City Lights (1931)

The Great Dictator (1940)

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) – John Landis’s trailer commentary, Dennis Cozzalio’s review, Dennis Cozzalio’s Muriel Awards capsule review

Vertigo (1958) – Dan Ireland’s trailer commentary, Brian Trenchard-Smith’s review

The Man Who Would Be King (1975) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary

Lawrence Of Arabia (1962)

The Young And The Damned (1950)

Gone With The Wind (1939)

The Golem (1920) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Sunrise: A Song Of Two Humans (1927)

Alucarda (1977)

Greed (1924) – Dennis Cozzalio’s Muriel Awards capsule review

Taxi Driver (1976) – Rod Lurie’s trailer commentary

District 9 (2009) – John Sayles...

Oscar-winning director Bong Joon Ho, who made awards history with his genre-bending thriller “Parasite,” is making his next feature film at Warner Bros.

Robert Pattinson, who will soon appear as the Caped Crusader in “The Batman,” is expected to star in the science-fiction story, an adaptation of Edward Ashton’s upcoming novel “Mickey7.”

According to the book’s publisher St. Martin Press, the high-concept cerebral thriller is best described as “The Martian” meets “Dark Matter.” The tale is about an “expendable” — a disposable employee on a human expedition sent to colonize the ice world Nifheim — who refuses to let his replacement clone, dubbed Mickey 8, take his place.

In an early review, author Jason Pargin called the novel “a unique blend of thought-provoking sci-fi concepts, farcical relationship drama and exotic body humor.”

“Edward Ashton keeps it all grounded via a protagonist who experiences the wonders of interstellar travel and alien contact...

(Welcome to The Daily Stream, an ongoing series in which the /Film team shares what they've been watching, why it's worth checking out, and where you can stream it.)

The Movie: "The Host"

Where You Can Stream It: Hulu

The Pitch: Well before Bong Joon-ho conquered the cinematic world with the incredible, history-making "Parasite," he had already made his international mark in a number of top-tier genre films. Perhaps chief among these is his international breakout, the 2006 creature feature "The Host." The film begins with an American military pathologist ordering the dumping of some 200 bottles of old formaldehyde into the...

The post The Daily Stream: The Host is a Monster Movie Whose Emotions Hit as Hard as the Beast appeared first on /Film.

Michael Cudlitz and Jake Abel and have signed on to star alongside Zhang Hanyu and Vivienne Tien (Be Yourself) in Unspoken, a dramatic feature from writer-director Daming Chen that is now in production.

Unspoken tells the story of Xu (Zhang), an estranged father separated from his deaf daughter and her new life at an American university, whose murder reunites them in a way neither could have foreseen. The tragedy pierces Xu with grief and guilt that he couldn’t be present to protect his child. An ex-cop himself, he becomes convinced the local authorities are pursuing the wrong suspect – and that racism is compromising the investigation.

With a young Chinese translator in tow (Tien), who is navigating her own challenging path as a young immigrant, Xu sets out to learn what really happened to his daughter.

Exclusive: Kellie Madison (Never Back Down: Revolt) has signed on to direct a supernatural action thriller, centered on a geothermic explosion inside the ruins of Pompeii, for Pressman Film.

The script for the as-yet untitled feature will be penned by Kalen Egan and Travis Sentell (Electric Dreams). Edward R. Pressman and Kelly McKee of Pressman Film are on board to produce along with veteran Korean producer Lewis Taewan Kim. Korean VFX company Westworld will co-produce, with Jihyun Kim (Train to Busan) leading creature design and concept artwork.

“I’ve been a fan of Pressman Film since the original Bad Lieutenant. I’m so excited to be collaborating with them to create something really special and unique,” said Madison. “The type of hybrid production team we are putting together has never been done before.

Ryan Gosling Will Be Working With Director Derek Cianfrance Again — Ryan Gosling will be reunited with a director he’s worked with twice before, Derek Cianfrance, on the new Wolfman film from Universal. Monster movies are making a comeback and so is Ryan Gosling. Just recently, it was reported that he will most likely be assuming [...]

Continue reading: Wolfman: Ryan Gosling To Re-Team With Director Derek Cianfrance On Monster Movie...

On-location filming is booming in Los Angeles. The third quarter of 2021 was the third-best quarter in 26 years, trailing only the pre-pandemic fourth quarters of 2016 and 2018, according to the latest report from FilmLA, the city and county film permit office. Shooting days were up 3.4% from the second quarter, and skyrocketed more than 141% from the dark days of the pandemic a year ago.

“The biggest takeaway from this report is that the pace of local production continues to increase,” said FilmLA president Paul Audley. “The late-pandemic recovery is uneven in some ways, but community receptiveness to filming is steady and the work opportunities are undeniably there.”

Broadcast TV series that filmed locally during the third quarter (July 1–Sept. 30) include CBS’ Seal Team and NCIS: Los Angeles; NBC’s Mr. Mayor and This is Us, and ABC’s The Rookie and Home Economics. Cable series include two new series for Showtime – Super Pumped...

Exclusive: As production wraps in Puerto Rico, Tony Goldwyn and Paul Ben-Victor have joined Gerard Butler in Lionsgate’s action thriller The Plane, we’ve heard.

They join previously announced cast Mike Colter, Daniella Pineda, Kelly Gale, Yoson An, Remi Adeleke, Haleigh Hekking, Lilly Krug, Joey Slotnick and Oliver Trevena.

Goldwyn will play Scarsdale, an ex-Special Forces officer who is now a corporate crisis manager and fixer. Ben-Victor will play Hampton, owner of the airline.

The Plane, directed by Jean-François Richet, follows commercial pilot Brodie Torrance (Butler) who, after a heroic job of successfully landing his storm-damaged aircraft in hostile territory, finds himself threatened by militant pirates who are planning to take the plane and its passengers hostage. As the world’s authorities and media search for the disappeared aircraft, Brodie must rise to the occasion and keep his passengers safe long enough for help to arrive.

The pic was adapted by Charles Cumming,...

Kristen Stewart will receive the Performer Tribute and Magnolia Pictures chief Eamonn Bowles will get the Industry Tribute at next month’s Gotham Awards.

The event is returning to its longtime home, Cipriani Wall Street, for an in-person ceremony on November 29. That will once again position the Gothams in the vanguard of awards season as live events replace the endless online parade of last year’s Covid-impaired season.

Stewart’s current role is Princess Diana in Spencer, which world-premiered in Venice and will be distributed theatrically by Neon. She is known for her performances in the Twilight franchise, Personal Shopper, Seberg and Happiest Season, among other films.

Bowles launched Magnolia Pictures with partner Bill Banowsky in 2001. The company this week confirmed it had hired an investment bank to explore a potential sale, with its library of more than 500 films a sure draw in the streaming era. Magnolia releases have included Man on Wire,...

A terminally ill prisoner and a despondent hospital worker steal a hearse stuffed with mob money in “Heaven: To the Land of Happiness.” This combination of odd-couple road movie and crime comedy moves along nicely for about half the running time but loses momentum when sentimentality and drawn-out male bonding take precedence over the film’s more playful components. Well served by the casting of A-list performers Choi Min-sik (“Old Boy”) and Park Hae-il (“The Host”) as the unlikely allies, “Heaven” should be warmly welcomed by local audiences but the latest offering from distinguished South Korean filmmaker Im Sang-soo is unlikely to enjoy the same international exposure as his best-known works, such as “The Housemaid.”

Originally selected for Cannes 2020 but unable to screen owing to the pandemic, Im’s film instead received its world premiere as the opening-night attraction at Busan 2021. A very different proposition from his emotionally spiky and...

Though the summer movie season is winding down (if it ever really started this year), Amazon Prime’s list of new releases for September 2021 is chock full of worthwhile movie options.

For starters, Amazon’s library movie titles are quite good this month. September 1 sees the arrivals of heavyweights such as Apollo 13, Arachnophobia, Romeo + Juliet, The Descent, and The Social Network. And if that weren’t enough, the streamer is trying out some intriguing original movies as well. Cinderella, a modern update on the classic fairy tale, premieres on September 3. That will be followed by “exotic thriller” The Voyeurs (Sept. 10), musical adaptation Everybody’s Talking About Jamie (Sept. 17), and French thriller The Mad Woman’s Ball (Sept. 17).

Read more Movies How Arachnophobia Became the Perfect Creepy Crawly Horror Comedy By Jack Beresford Movies Quentin Tarantino Calls The Social Network the Best Movie of the 2010s By David Crow

Things...

With the global film industry in a state of flux amidst unprecedented shifts in the production and distribution landscape, Tom Quinn’s indie label Neon isn’t just weathering the storm, it’s completely thriving. Currently in its fifth year of operation, the production and distribution company is quietly riding high after debuting three titles to critical acclaim at the Cannes Film Festival last month: Julia Ducournau’s gutsy and provocative body horror Titane, which notably earned Neon its second consecutive Palme d’Or win after Bong Joon Ho’s 2019 win for Parasite; Tilda Swinton starrer Memoria, which tied for Jury Prize; and anthology feature The Year Of The Everlasting Storm, one of the 10 productions that Neon greenlit since the beginning of the pandemic. Its festival pickup A Chiara also won Directors’ Fortnight.

“It’s almost an embarrassment of riches,” Quinn tells Deadline. “But it...

The Suicide Squad presented a particularly special challenge even for the guy who brought a talking raccoon and a sentient tree to life — and made us fall in love with them — in Guardians of the Galaxy.

Two of the characters that writer/director James Gunn wanted to feature in his soft reboot of the DC Extended Universe franchise — a follow-up to the Squad’s 2016 big screen introduction — were King Shark a.k.a. Nanaue (played on set by Steve Agee and voiced by Sylvester Stallone) and Starro the Conqueror.

The former is a man-eating hybrid of great white shark and human being, while the latter is a giant, intelligent alien life form in the shape of a starfish that has traveled through interstellar space to Earth and can control the minds of other beings through spores it wraps around its victims’ faces. King Shark was created through a combination of performance capture and digital effects,...

“The King and The Clown” is the 10th highest grossing domestic film in South Korea and upon release it was the highest grossing film in its history until “The Host” came along a few months later. This is most impressive for a film that was made on a pretty low-budget, did not feature A-List stars and tackled a controversial subject. So what exactly is it that made “The King and The Clown” tick with the masses?

Jang-saeng and the effeminate Gong-gil are members of a street performers crew in 15th-century Joseon, who love to do lewd skits and acrobatic acts which were very popular among the common public at the time, with Jang-saeng playing the male in the story and Gong-gil his female counterpart. Gong-gil is often pimped out by the crew’s leader, a fact which doesn’t sit well with Jang-saeng. An incident forces them...

“Lump of Sugar” was the first Korean film that dealt with horse racing, and it did so in realistic though entertaining fashion, managing to become a box office success, despite the presence of titles like “The Host” and “The King and the Clown”, that also screened during 2006. Some clips of the race have actually happened, on Stratford upon Avon horse racing in England.

The script revolves around Si-eun, the daughter of a poor rancher, whose deceased mother was a horse jockey. The girl spends most of her time with her mother’s racehorse, named General. Unfortunately, the horse dies during birth, in a highly melodramatic and shockingly realistic scene, but Si-eun promises the dying mare that she will take care of her offspring, which she names Thunder. Si-eun, who, secretly from her father, wants to follow her mother’s example, raises the young horse as if she was his mother,...

The Vesoul International Festival of Asian Cinemas, represented in Cannes by Martine and Jean-Marc Thérouanne, director and general delegate, and Marc Haaz, technical director, congratulates all the winners of the 74th Cannes Film Festival and more particularly Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Japanese director of “Drive My Car”, who was awarded three times, Asghar Farhadi, Iranian director of “A Hero”, Grand Jury prize, Nadav Lapid, Israeli director of “Le Genou d’Ahed ”and Apichatpong Weerasethakul Thai director of“ Memoria ”, both jury prizes.

Fica also congratulates the Korean actor Song Kang-ho,, for coming twice to Cannes, as a member of the jury and main actor of “Emergency Declaration” presented out of competition.

Extending the work of and then building up to the annual London Korean Film Festival in the autumn, the Teaser Screenings showcase a diverse range of contemporary cinema across the year. The count down to the 2021 London Korean Film Festival includes a season that offers UK audiences a chance to see the latest film releases from Korea. The Spring 2021 season will be focusing on three titles, screening in cinemas across London and the UK. The London Korean Film Festival will also be hosting an online talk with “Voice of Silence” director Hong Eui-jung on 4 July at 12 noon.

Voice Of Silence

The impressive debut feature from London Film School graduate Hong Eui-jung, “Voice Of Silence“ is a beautifully shot crime caper with an award winning performance from “Burning”’s Yoo Ah-in. On its weekend of release “Voice of Silence” became the number 1 film at the Korean box office. It’s captivating...

Novelist Viet Thanh Nguyen announced on social media this week (via Vulture) that his Pulitzer Prize-winning 2016 book “The Sympathizer” is getting a television series adaptation, courtesy of Park Chan-wook and A24. While A24 has not responded to IndieWire’s request for comment, the indie studio and distributor did re-share Nguyen’ posts to its own social media pages. The project will bring Park Chan-wook back to television following his 2018 limited series “The Little Drummer Girl,” which starred Florence Pugh, Alexander Skarsgård, and Michael Shannon.

“Thrilled to finally announce that A24 has optioned ‘The Sympathizer’ for TV, with director Park Chan-wook, whose films include ‘The Handmaiden,'” Nguyen wrote on Twitter. “His ‘Oldboy’ was a big influence on ‘The Sympathizer,’ and I can’t imagine a better person to direct this TV adaptation.”

Nguyen added, “I hope Park Chan-wook, who did wonders with the octopus in ‘Oldboy,’ will be equally imaginative with the squid in ‘The Sympathizer…...

“The Host.” What can I say? I’ve looked through dozens of reviews and I’ve concluded that it’s an extremist film. Which is to say that you either love it or you hate it and there is little to no room for the in-betweeners. Since I’m on the side that loved it, which greatly outnumbers those who didn’t, and I’m also writing this particular review, my opinion is the only one that counts. Much like when I made up the word ‘in-betweeners’, no one’s going to call me on it, so make yourselves comfortable. You’re in my world now.

Released in the U.S in 2007 “The Host” seems like the Asian apology for “Godzilla”. Not to say that “Godzilla” wasn’t a classic. But whenever I hear the name, the film I picture in my head is in black and...

Even though it feels like we’ve lived many lifetimes since Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite arrived stateside and swept the Oscars, it’s in fact only been just over a year. Thankfully, the director is staying busy and has now revealed in a new conversation he’s finished one of two screenplays he’s been whittling away at.

“I’m preparing two different projects. One is a Korean-language one, and the other one is an English-language one. Both projects are not big films. They’re the size of Parasite or Mother,” he said back in 2019. “The Korean film is located in Seoul and has unique elements of horror and action. It’s difficult to define the genre of my films. The English project is a drama film based on a true event that happened in 2016. Of course I won’t know until I finish the script, but it has...

The Korean Film Council (Kofic) is launching an initiative to promote the country’s acting talent on the world stage. It will roll out from March, ahead of the year’s major film festivals.

The Korean Actors 200 campaign, akin to the Shooting Stars operation backed by the European Film Promotion program, is described as a “methodical project” that sees the selection of 100 men and 100 women who represent the present and the future of Korean film.

Kofic says that the selection process takes into consideration the performers’ box office power over the last decade, awards earned at festivals in Korea and abroad, their contribution to independent cinema, and their participation in international projects.

A dedicated website will contain filmographies, new portrait photography, show reels, biographies and a list of particular characteristics and strengths for each. Portrait images will be supplied by two leading photographers Kim Jung-man and Ahn Sung-jin.

“We plan...

Oscar-winning director of ‘Parasite’ to serve as international jury president at 78th Venice International Film Festival.

Bong Joon Ho, the Oscar-winning director of Parasite, is to serve as president of the international jury at the 78th Venice International Film Festival (September 1-11).

The South Korean director will lead a seven-strong jury and assign prizes to features selected in competition, including the prestigious Golden Lion for best film, won last year by Chloe Zhao’s Nomadland.

Bong has previously been more associated with the Cannes Film Festival, premiering five of his films there including Parasite, which won the Palme d’Or...