Top Movie News provided by Rolling Stone©

• ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ Is the Only Comic-Book Movie You’ll Ever Need
  How an animated feature about a half-dozen Spideys nailed both superhero movies and comic-book storytelling in a single webslinging bound
• Netflix Made a Fyre Festival Doc So We Can Relive the Most Disastrous Fest in History
  Fyre, out January 18th, provides "first-hand look into disastrous crash of Fyre as told by the organizers themselves"
• Watch Ben Affleck, Oscar Isaac Battle Drug Lord in ‘Triple Frontier’ Trailer
  Netflix action-thrilled centers around military veterans plotting against violent South American cartel
• Watch Deadpool, Fred Savage Argue Over Nickelback’s Musical Merits
  Savage slams Canadian rock act as "overproduced, formulaic ear garbage" – before joining superhero for "How You Remind Me" duet – in clip for 'Once Upon a Deadpool'
• ‘Divide and Conquer: The Story of Roger Ailes’: Portrait of a Raging Bull
  Alexis Bloom's documentary explores the arrogance of power and the creation of Fox News
• ‘Brightburn’: See Terrifying Trailer for James Gunn’s ‘Superhero Horror’ Film
  Guardians of the Galaxy director produced and co-wrote dark spin on Superman myth
• Trailers of the Week: ‘Avengers 4,’ ‘GoT’ Final Season Teaser, ‘Captain Marvel’
  From a peek at two upcoming Marvel blockbusters to an ominous teaser for the end of 'Game of Thrones'
• The Brief, Unhappy Oscar Night of Kevin Hart
  The Academy's host situation — the job nobody seems to want — is already turning the Oscars into a fiasco
• Revisiting Hours: Working-Class Heroes — ‘Blue Collar’
  This week's streaming column: Alex Pappademas on Paul Schrader's 1978 profane, pulpy, prescient-as-hell comedy about the wage-slave blues
• 10 Worst Movies of 2018
  Dead-on-arrival sequels, "dark" superhero tales gone wrong, the dumbest mobster movie ever made — welcome to the bottom of 2018's cinematic barrel

LA Times©

• Inside the Los Angeles Film Critics Association vote for the best movies of 2018
  Alfonso Cuarón’s “Roma” has scored early plaudits from critics’ organizations, having been named the best picture of the year by the New York Film Critics Circle and the Los Angeles Film Critics Assn., as well as critics’ organizations in Toronto, Chicago, Washington and Philadelphia. Times critics...
• Endeavor promotes Mark Shapiro to president
  Endeavor has promoted Mark Shapiro to the newly created position of president, four years after he joined the Hollywood talent agency and media company from Dick Clark Productions. Shapiro will continue to be based in New York and will report to Endeavor Chief Executive Ari Emanuel. The Endeavor...
• ‘The Favourite’ and ‘Black Panther’ lead film nominees for Critics' Choice Awards
  The Broadcast Film Critics Assn. announced its film nominees for the 24th Critics' Choice Awards on Monday, with period black comedy "The Favourite" earning 14 nominations, just ahead of box office blockbuster “Black Panther,” which scored 12. Olivia Colman, Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz all garnered...
• ‘Star Trek’ series focusing on Picard character will shoot in California
  A highly anticipated new “Star Trek” series focusing on the Capt. Jean-Luc Picard character will shoot in California thanks to $15.6 million in state tax credits for the CBS All Access show. The untitled “Star Trek” series, which is set to debut on the streaming service in 2019, is one of nine...
• 'Roma' named best picture of the year by the Los Angeles Film Critics Assn.
  The Los Angeles Film Critics Assn. announced its 2018 winners for the best in film Sunday with top honors going to Alfonso Cuarón’s "Roma." The black-and-white film, about a middle-class Mexican family and its live-in nanny, took home the award for best picture and best cinematography. Cuarón,...
• 'Ralph' reigns over another sleepy weekend at the box office
  Disney’s “Ralph Breaks the Internet” presided over another slow box office weekend that saw no new wide releases and very little impact from the recently announced Golden Globes nominations. Next weekend's box office should be more exciting, early figures indicate. The pre-release Globes nominations...
• Shameik Moore spies another breakthrough by bringing Miles Morales to life in 'Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse'
  For Shameik Moore, the chance to play webslinger Miles Morales in Sony's animated "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" wasn't just the opportunity of a lifetime; it was fated. "While we were filming the movie 'Dope,' I wrote in my journal: 'I am Miles Morales, I am Spider-Man,'" he said over lunch...
• Review: 'Bumblebee' is a sweet, refreshingly small-scaled 'Transformers' prequel
  To describe “Bumblebee” as the best “Transformers” movie ever made may sound like such damningly faint praise as to border on the nonsensical. (Do you remember your funniest migraine? Your sexiest root canal?) For the past decade or so these pictures have existed so completely in their own crass,...
• Indie Focus: Fateful intersections in 'Vox Lux,' 'Ben Is Back' and 'Mary Queen of Scots'
  Hello! I’m Mark Olsen. Welcome to another edition of your regular field guide to a world of Only Good Movies. This was quite a week in movie-ville. More succinctly, this past Thursday was quite a day. Early L.A.-time that morning, the Golden Globes announced the nominations for their upcoming ceremony....
• New video: ‘Venom’ is more violent and moody than most Marvel fare
  New on Blu-ray “Venom” (Sony DVD, $30.99; Blu-ray, $38.99; 4K, $45.99; also available on VOD) Given the complicated production history, the October release date and the public’s increasingly fluctuating interest in superhero stories, “Venom” wasn’t exactly a popular pick to become one of the five...
• The Kevin Hart Oscars imbroglio represents the latest in a string of crises for the motion picture academy
  On Tuesday afternoon, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences brought together members of the press and a handful of film industry power players for a luncheon to celebrate a happy occasion: the unveiling of the exhibitions that its long-awaited museum will feature when it opens late next...
• Here's how Kevin Hart's Oscars debacle flamed out in such fast fashion
  Comedian Kevin Hart’s short-lived appointment to Oscars host fizzled out just as quickly as it was announced. In a big week in entertainment news that included the lead-up to the Golden Globes and Grammy Awards nominations, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences named Hart to emcee the...
• Natalie Portman, Jude Law and Brady Corbet on the complex portrait of modern celebrity in 'Vox Lux'
  “Vox Lux” is a movie full of big ideas. So big and so full, in fact, that the movie requires a secondary title, “A 21st Century Portrait.” Meaning, it is both a portrait of a character from the era and, in many ways, a portrait of our no longer quite so young century. Written and directed by Brady...
• Kevin Hart is out as Oscars host. And there are plenty of worthy replacements
  This week began without a host for the 91st Academy Awards, and now it appears to be ending the same way. On Tuesday, Kevin Hart announced via Instagram that he would be hosting the 2019 ceremony, promising, “I will be sure to make this years Oscars a special one.” On Thursday night, Hart returned...
• Pioneering women filmmakers are celebrated in new DVD box set
  A century ago, female filmmakers were a powerful force in Hollywood. No, that’s not a misprint. Despite the ongoing battle to create opportunities for female directors, progress in this area has been slow. But in the early days of the studios, a number of women gained prominence as directors. In...
• Review: The Dolly Parton-tuned 'Dumplin' ' is more of a collection of aphorisms than a movie
  If you’re a Dolly Parton fan, it’s part of her sneaky charm that the true bodaciousness in this figure of flashy, ogled glitz was always her singing/songwriting gifts, among the richest ever heard in American popular music. It’s no great leap, then, to imagine Parton’s tuneful, homespun repertoire...
• Kevin Hart steps down as 2019 Oscars host after backlash over past homophobic comments
  Kevin Hart has stepped down as host of the 2019 Oscars. After he claimed he was pressured by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to apologize for past homophobic comments, the comedian announced on Thursday night his decision to step away from hosting this year’s ceremony. “I have made...
• With Golden Globes nominations, the team behind 'Crazy Rich Asians' hopes it leads to more inclusion in Hollywood
  Jon M. Chu was on daddy duty in the wee hours of the morning in chilly Vancouver, Canada, where he’s directing his next project, when he decided to tune in and see if his other baby, the groundbreaking romantic comedy “Crazy Rich Asians,” would be vying for hardware at the 76th Golden Globes. When...
• Golden Globes' celebration of 'Vice' collides with the Bush funeral's celebration of virtue
  Hollywood figuratively crashed the funeral Thursday. Even as President George H.W. Bush was being laid to rest in Houston following a final service and several days of heartfelt eulogies, the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. celebrated the movie “Vice,” a scathing biopic that blames former Vice President...
• Golden Globes nominations deliver a big boost to 'Vice,' plus early Oscar front-runners 'A Star Is Born,' 'The Favourite' and 'Green Book'
  Offering the first major indication of where this year’s Oscar-season winds may be blowing, the Golden Globe Award nominations announced Thursday delivered a series of surprises that portend an unpredictable race to come. That said, when it comes to the Globes — which has a history of eyebrow-raising,...
• Reviews: Armenian drama 'Spitak,' 'Bernie the Dolphin' and more movies
  'Spitak' With a theatrical release timed to coincide with the anniversary of the devastating 1988 Armenian Earthquake, Alexander Kott’s “Spitak” is a spare, haunting, character-driven drama set in the immediate aftermath of the temblor that left more than 25,000 dead. Hurrying back to Spitak, where...
• Review: Proper portraits in Merchant-Ivory-Jhabvala's 'The Bostonians'
  Editor’s note: A restored version of the 1984 film “The Bostonians” opens Dec. 7 at the Laemmle Royal. The Times originally published this review Dec. 6, 1984. You may have already heard or read that in “The Bostonians,” Vanessa Redgrave is Olive Chancellor incarnate. And so she seems to be, illuminating...
• Restraint From the Master of Razzmatazz: 'Schindler's List' is a major departure for Steven Spielberg
  Editor’s note: A 4K digitally remastered version of “Schindler’s List,” which won seven Academy Awards including best picture, opens Friday in general release. The Times originally published this review Dec. 15, 1993. The more we know about the Holocaust, the more unknowable it seems to become....
• Review: The rise of Fox News is told through the man who made it happen in 'Divide and Conquer: The Story of Roger Ailes'
  Roger Ailes was chairman and CEO of Fox News, America’s most powerful partisan political network, but “Divide and Conquer: The Story of Roger Ailes” makes the shrewd choice not to view him in strictly ideological terms. Rather this gripping documentary, directed by Alexis Bloom with the veteran...
• Review: Julia Roberts is pulled every which way in the gutsy, clumsy 'Ben Is Back'
  One of the first things you realize about Ben (Lucas Hedges) is that he has a lot of hiding places. There’s the attic in his family’s suburban New York home where he used to stash his drugs. After getting frisked for illegal substances by his mom, Holly (Julia Roberts), he slyly points out that...

NY Times©

• Reporter Asks ‘The Front Runner’ to Declare His Portrayal Is Fiction
  Tom Fiedler, a former Miami Herald journalist, objects to his characterization in the film, which tracks Gary Hart’s 1988 presidential campaign.
• Anatomy of a Scene: Watch Julia Roberts Move From Joy to Panic in ‘Ben Is Back’
  Peter Hedges narrates a sequence from his film featuring Roberts and Lucas Hedges.
• The Best Movies of 2018
  Our chief film critics single out a Mexican remembrance of things past and four American documentaries about the way we live now.
• ‘Aquaman’ Is Already a Box Office Titan
  The superhero movie took in $94 million in China, validating a risky distribution strategy. It arrives in the United States and Canada on Dec. 21.
• Skin Deep: Felicity Jones on Becoming Ruth Bader Ginsburg
  Find out the actress’s beauty tips, and how she transformed into the Supreme Court justice for “On the Basis of Sex.”
• The Best Performances of 2018
  The movies and the plays and the TV shows are great, but what about the people in them? They’re right here — well, some of the very best are.
• ‘Clueless’ Was Amy Heckerling’s Masterpiece. Is She Done With It? As If.
  Heckerling, the pioneering director behind “Fast Times at Ridgemont High,” is turning “Clueless” into a musical. Will she finally get her due?
• Critic’s Pick: ‘Ben Is Back’ Review: A Mother and Son Face the Horrors of Addiction
  Strong performances by Lucas Hedges and Julia Roberts anchor this somber, scary family drama.
• ‘Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang’ (2005) Review
  A.O. Scott reviewed “Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang” for The New York Times on Oct. 21, 2005. Read the original review.
• A ‘Stranger Things’ Teaser, Beyoncé and More: 5 Things in Pop Culture Today
  What you need to know from Monday’s TV, music and movie news.
• Golden Globes and ‘Avengers’: 7 Things to Know From the Week in Pop Culture Today
  What you need to know from this week’s TV, music and movie news.
• ‘Ben Is Back’ | Anatomy of a Scene
  Peter Hedges narrates a scene from his film featuring Lucas Hedges and Julia Roberts.
• ‘Avengers’ 4 Trailer Takes a Mournful Approach to Sequels
  The new clip is part of a big week for Marvel trailers, including one for “Captain Marvel” and a forthcoming one for “Spider-Man: Far From Home.”
• The Week in Arts: Chris Thile, J.K. Simmons, Handel’s ‘Messiah’
  The host of American Public Media’s “Live From Here” is broadcasting weekly from Town Hall in Manhattan.
• Encounters: Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Who Plays Aquaman’s Nemesis, Gets Schooled in Chess
  The 32-year-old actor lands his biggest role yet, playing Black Manta, the underwater supervillain.
• Kevin Hart Steps Down as Oscars Host After Criticism Over Homophobic Tweets
  The comedian, who has tweeted homophobic slurs in the past, said, “I do not want to be a distraction on a night that should be celebrated by so many amazing talented artists.”
• 4 Film Series to Catch in N.Y.C. This Weekend
  Our guide to film series and special screenings.
• Fortnite Gets Sued and More: 5 Things to Know in Pop Culture Today
  What we’re talking about in Thursday’s TV, music and movie news.
• Critic’s Pick: ‘Vox Lux’ Review: An Apocalyptic Star Is Born
  In Brady Corbet’s new movie, Natalie Portman plays a pop star, a teenage victim of a mass shooting who has grown up to become a 21st-century brand.
• ‘Mary Queen of Scots’ Review: Sexy, Spirited and Almost Convincing
  Saoirse Ronan is the doomed Scottish queen, and Margot Robbie is her cousin Elizabeth I in this vigorously revisionist historical drama.
• The Carpetbagger: Golden Globes’ Biggest Snubs: ‘Widows’ and ‘First Man’ Take Hits
  The heist drama was shut out, potentially dooming its awards season chances, while the astronaut biopic picked up just one nomination, for Claire Foy.
• Golden Globe Nominations 2019: Here Is the Full List
  A complete list of the nominees for the 2019 Golden Globe awards.
• ‘Asher’ Review: An Aging Hit Man Finds Love
  Ron Perlman and Famke Janssen star in this film that finds a hired killer dealing with his own mortality.
• Critic’s Pick: ‘Divide and Conquer: The Story of Roger Ailes’ Review: Portrait of a News Exec
  Alexis Bloom’s film gives viewers a credible sense of Ailes’s psychology through the testimony of peers and co-workers who witnessed his ruthlessness firsthand.
• ‘Bitter Melon’ Review: Filipino-American Brothers Go Home for the Holidays
  This film by H.P. Mendoza shows a willingness to roil a holiday movie formula, but also a wobbly grasp of tone.
• ‘The Great Pretender’ Review: Tedious Love Affairs in Artsy Brooklyn
  In Nathan Silver’s new film, American bros break the hearts of beautiful Frenchwomen. Realism or wishful thinking?
• ‘Swimming With Men’ Review: An Amiable Look at Aging Bodies
  In this British comedy, a middle-aged accountant finds peace through synchronized swimming.
• Critic’s Pick: ‘The Party’s Just Beginning’ Review: Loss and Love in Inverness
  The actress Karen Gillan gets glum to play a depressed young woman in her feature directorial debut.
• Golden Globes Briefing: ‘A Star Is Born’ and ‘Vice’ Lead the 2019 Golden Globes Nominations
  “Vice” nabbed six nominations, while “A Star Is Born,” “Green Book” and “The Favourite” all received five. “Black Panther” was nominated for best drama.
• MoviePass, Rattled by a Rough Year, Tries to Change Its Ways
  The ticket service is changing its operating structure, adjusting its subscription offers and asking its customers for forgiveness after months of financial uncertainty.
• Harvey Weinstein Makes an Email Plea: ‘I’ve Had One Hell of a Year’
  A privately sent message from Mr. Weinstein criticizing the investigation against him dovetailed with his team’s aggressive strategy to plead his case in public before trial.
• Critic’s Pick: ‘Amazing Grace’ Review: Aretha Franklin Is Glorious in a Rousing Concert Film
  The film Aretha Franklin didn’t want you to see arrives in theaters. It captures an incandescent Queen of Soul recording her 1972 live album.
• Review: ‘Dumplin’’ Shares an Ordinary Girl’s Truth
  Danielle Macdonald stars in this uninspired adaptation of Julie Murphy’s young adult novel about a big girl’s struggle against small minds.
• NO Regrets: Strutting the Red Carpet and Worrying About Climate Change
  Parties were held for the film “Paris to Pittsburgh,” Marc Jacobs’s grunge collection and “If Beale Street Could Talk.”
• Tom Cruise Wants to Fix Your TV Settings: 5 Things in Pop Culture Today
  What we’re talking about from Wednesday’s TV, music and movie news.
• The Carpetbagger: Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie Are Coming Into Their Power
  The “Mary Queen of Scots” stars and former Oscar rivals are tired of being people-pleasers. “There’s a lot of power in saying no,” says Robbie.
• Kevin Hart Will Host the 2019 Oscars
  The comedian, who called hosting the Academy Awards “the opportunity of a lifetime,” will be the M.C. for the 91st Oscars ceremony, set for Feb. 24.
• Philip Bosco, Tony-Winning Character Actor, Is Dead at 88
  A familiar face for years in movies, on television and especially on Broadway, he had a particular affinity for the work of George Bernard Shaw.
• Film Academy Museum, Yet to Open, Reveals Inaugural Exhibitions
  The long-delayed Academy Museum of Motion Pictures won’t open until late 2019. But on Tuesday it announced what visitors can expect to see.
• New ‘Captain Marvel’ Trailer and More: 5 Things in Pop Culture Today
  What we’re talking about in Tuesday’s TV, music and movie news.
• Paul Gregory, Risk-Taking Showman in a Golden Age, Is Dead at 95
  His star rose in the 1950s and ’60s, when Broadway was ripe for experimentation. But he died in 2015 far from the limelight, and little notice was taken.
• A Hallmark Christmas Fan Watches Netflix’s Holiday Movies
  Can the streaming service’s offerings live up to the joy — and the tears — of the cable channel’s? Our reporter investigated.
• Critic’s Pick: ‘Tyrel’ Review: Drowning in a Whirlpool of Drunken Dudes
  Sebastián Silva’s film is a racially charged cringe comedy-drama about being stuck with a group of guys you barely know.
• Critic’s Pick: ‘The Charmer’ Review: Desperate Man Seeks Willing Lover. Watch Out.
  This Danish thriller is the first feature from the writer and director Milad Alami. Details are revealed in “nail-biting” style, our critic writes.

NPR©

• NPR's Favorite Movies Of 2018
  From the record-breaking hit Black Panther to the melodrama A Star Is Born, our film critics pick their 15 favorite movies of the year.
• Review: 'Icebox' Sums Up Human Cost of Turning Away Immigrant Children Seeking Asylum
  HBO's "Icebox" is the story of a 12-year-old Honduran boy, fleeing gang violence, who lands in one of America's notorious child detention centers after he's caught trying to sneak into the U.S.
• 'Anna And The Apocalypse': The Scottish Zombie Christmas High School Musical
  Ella Hunt, who stars as the titular Anna, explains the undead metaphor, her own teenage years, and the impact of co-creator Ryan McHenry — who died before he could see this movie completed.
• Movie Review: 'Mary Queen Of Scots'
  In the lush historical tragedy, Mary Queen of Scots, Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie play the title character, and her cousin and nemesis Queen Elizabeth.
• Stylistically Dazzling 'Vox Lux' Draws Link Between Pop Stardom And Terrorism
  Natalie Portman plays a young Christian woman who is propelled to pop stardom following a mass shooting. Critic John Powers says Vox Lux is inventive — and exasperating.
• 'Mary Queen Of Scots' Is A Case Study On How Political, Human Narratives Get Crafted
  Stefan Zweig's famous book is as much about its own context as an execution 300 years ago; its archness signals a time capsule, except that the rhetoric around women in power has changed so little.
• Friday News Roundup - Domestic
  Flynn-sanity. Also, other news.
• With An Eye On Oscars, Netflix Sent 'Roma' To Theaters First
  Alfonso Cuarón's acclaimed movie has been part of an ongoing battle over who gets to premiere movies: streaming services like Netflix, or theaters?
• Kevin Hart Steps Down As 2019 Oscars Host
  Kevin Hart has stepped down as host of the Academy Awards after he refused to apologize for past homophobic tweets.
• Kevin Hart Bows Out As Oscars Host Amid Backlash Over Past Tweets
  "I'm sorry that I hurt people," the comic said, referring to anti-gay tweets he had posted years earlier. He had initially refused to apologize, only to announce hours later that he was stepping down.
• 'Vox Lux' Is Too Much — And That's What Makes It So Invigorating
  Sure, this lush, blistering riff on pop stardom — and the many ways it intersects with a culture obsessed with both violence and celebrity — is over-the-top. That's the point.
• 'Ben Is Back': Well-Acted Addiction Drama Loses Its Way
  The first half is a tense, painfully real family drama about the lingering toll of opioid addiction; the second half lurches into thriller territory thick with stock types and cliches.
• In 'Mary Queen Of Scots,' 2 Queens Become Pawns In A Struggle For Supremacy
  Director Josie Rourke's epic, fiercely feminist period piece "does make a powerfully moving case for an uneasy dance between two powerful women hamstrung by male politics."
• Director Barry Jenkins Talks On Behalf Of 'Beale Street'
  The director of Moonlight has made a new film: If Beale Street Could Talk, based on the James Baldwin novel. He's using it to represent black complexity, vulnerability and skin colors.
• Actor Lucas Hedges On 'Ben is Back', ADHD And Crying On Screen
  Best known for his roles in Manchester by the Sea and Lady Bird, Hedges stars as a teenager in rehab for opioid addiction in Ben is Back. He's also nominated for a Golden Globe for Boy Erased.