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Movie News & Trailers: Coming Attractions
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Steven Spielberg’s ‘Disclosure Day’: What the Critics Are Saying – Hollywood Reporter
The sci-fi thriller, starring Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Colin Firth and Colman Domingo and featuring an epic score by the great John Williams, hits theaters on June 12.
The master makes movie magic once more!
That’s how critics are reacting to Steven Spielberg‘s latest film, the sci-fi thriller Disclosure Day, which sees the legendary filmmaker return to the topic of extraterrestrial beings and the philosophical implications of our place in the universe.
Disclosure Day tells the story of a U.S.-government led conspiracy to keep the existence of intelligent alien life a secret, and how those plans are upended by small determined group committed to “disclosing” the truth to a world on the brink of war and annihilation.
The film stars Josh O’Connor, Emily Blunt, Colman Domingo, Colin Firth, Eve Hewson and Wyatt Russell. Disclosure Day is written by Spielberg’s frequent collaborator David Koepp and the film’s creative team features Spielberg regulars like cinematographer Janusz Kaminski, editor Sarah Broshar and the great composer John Williams.
Reviews for the Universal Pictures started the hitting the internet on June 9, with the film set for a full global theatrical release on June 12. Currently Disclosure Day sits at 84 percent on Rotten Tomatoes after 138 reviews. The film’s score on Metacritic currently sits at 74.
The Hollywood Reporter‘s David Rooney was effusive in his praise for Disclosure Day, writing that “no living director better understands the magic of movies.” Rooney writes that the film has a “shared DNA [that] can easily be traced to Close Encounters and E.T. But as is fitting for a filmmaker pushing 80, awestruck innocence now co-exists with a more ruminative maturity, especially when touching on the secrecy, manipulation and deception of governmental power.” He adds, “as much as Spielberg’s early sci-fi, the new film kept taking me back to the moral and philosophical questions posed by 2002’s brilliant Minority Report.”
Impressed by the depth of the film, Rooney writes, “There are allegories that can be read about fear of the unknown breeding cruelty and exploitation, but Disclosure Day is first and foremost a propulsive yarn with thematic roots in hope, truth, empathy and perhaps even spirituality.”
In his 4 star review, the venerable Guardian critic Peter Bradshaw had fun with the “very enjoyable and entirely ridiculous space-alien conspiracy adventure” that is Disclosure Day, adding that the film “is cheerfully mischievous and deadly serious in equal measure.” “Only Spielberg could get away with taking two of the world’s best-known hoaxes – Roswell and crop circles – and treating them with judicious deadpan respect,” writes Bradshaw. “With heartfelt idealism, Spielberg also asks us to believe that should the ultimate truth come out, people everywhere would be terribly upset at the way captured aliens have been vivisected.”
IndieWire‘s David Ehrlich also praised Spielberg’s commitment to earnestness, despite making essentially a “fun and goofy popcorn movie.” Pondering the deeper significance of Disclosure Day, as well as the filmmaker’s advancing years, Ehrlich writes that with this film “modern cinema’s most unbounded storyteller has observed the siloification of life in the 21st century, it makes sense that he’s turned inward to understand why people are only growing further apart.” The critic reassures Spielberg fans that they will love the movie, writing, “A lifelong fantasist who’s matured into a master without ever growing up, Spielberg — now a half-century removed from Close Encounters — continues to delight in telling stories about regular people being subsumed into larger-than-life spectacle, and he’s as giddy as ever about replicating that experience for his audience.”
In another 4-star review, Empire‘s Dan Jolin writes that Disclosure Day seems every bit as personal to Spielberg as his last film, the semi autobiographical The Fabelmans, and that the filmmaker’s “pulse can be felt in every frame.” “Shot largely on 35mm film and buoyed by a stirring John Williams score, Disclosure Day feels like a welcome flashback to Proper Grown-up Cinema in this era of CG drenching,” writes Jolin. “Spielberg’s fluid visual mastery is evident throughout, including some delicious grace notes. In one scene, a TV-forecasted hailstorm is cheekily foreshadowed by a close-up of tumbling breakfast-cereal hoops; in another, the director frames a reflection of Blunt’s face in the back of a security guard’s crew-cut as Margaret snatches his thoughts: she is literally in his head. The film also features some of Spielberg’s best action in years, including a gripping high-speed train sequence that tugs you right back to his vintage Indiana Jones era.”
Vulture‘s Bilge Ebiri echoes the sentiment among critics that Disclosure Day is another extremely personal film from Spielberg. Ebiri writes that “Spielberg has always had one foot in the horror genre. Even though he hasn’t directed a horror movie since Jaws, his vernacular is that of horror, of unseen figures in the dark, of unspoken terrors and childhood traumas… In so many of his films, Spielberg tries to control and redefine something that is, on some level, unknowable and petrifying. There’s a similar feeling throughout Disclosure Day that the characters are confronting something traumatic and trying to find a way to the other side.” Ebiri adds, “Disclosure Day can be messy, but much of its beauty lies in that messiness. It’s an astoundingly personal film, and we can sense Spielberg trying to feel his way through the conflicting aspects of his vision.”
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Am I the only one who would like to see a regular Robin Hood movie where he’s dressed in green, is a hero, steals from the rich and gives to the poor? It was over 30 yeas since the last one.
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Am I the only one who would like to see a regular Robin Hood movie where he’s dressed in green, is a hero, steals from the rich and gives to the poor? It was over 30 yeas since the last one.
I’d rather see a contemporary movie where Robin Hood is a used car salesmen working for an unscrupulous boss who pushes his staff to lie to customers in order to make a huge profit selling defective piece-of-shit vehicles to old ladies and naive young couples. Sort of like Glengarry Glen Ross, but with bows and arrows.
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I’d rather see a contemporary movie where Robin Hood is a used car salesmen working for an unscrupulous boss who pushes his staff to lie to customers in order to make a huge profit selling defective piece-of-shit vehicles to old ladies and naive young couples.
Robbin’ Hoods
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Am I the only one who would like to see a regular Robin Hood movie where he’s dressed in green, is a hero, steals from the rich and gives to the poor? It was over 30 yeas since the last one.
I’d rather see a contemporary movie where Robin Hood is a used car salesmen working for an unscrupulous boss who pushes his staff to lie to customers in order to make a huge profit selling defective piece-of-shit vehicles to old ladies and naive young couples. Sort of like Glengarry Glen Ross, but with bows and arrows.
Isn’t that just Cadillac Man?
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Am I the only one who would like to see a regular Robin Hood movie where he’s dressed in green, is a hero, steals from the rich and gives to the poor? It was over 30 yeas since the last one.
I’d rather see a contemporary movie where Robin Hood is a used car salesmen working for an unscrupulous boss who pushes his staff to lie to customers in order to make a huge profit selling defective piece-of-shit vehicles to old ladies and naive young couples. Sort of like Glengarry Glen Ross, but with bows and arrows.
Isn’t that just Cadillac Man?
Did Tim Robbins have a crossbow in that? I forget…
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‘Disclosure Day’ Touches Down With $44 Million Opening, ‘Obsession’ Defies Gravity in Week 5 – Hollywood Reporter
Steven Spielberg’s UFO movie will be his top opening for an original movie, while Curry Barker’s horror hit is the rare movie to have four consecutive weekends bigger than its opening.
The original summer movie filmmaker met the new generation of directors this weekend, with Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day entering the fray amid a summer dominated by Gen Z hits Obsession and Backrooms.
Spielberg’s $115 million budgeted UFO will land at around $44 million domestically and $93.9 million globally this weekend, a solid start for the filmmaker’s first popcorn movie in eight years, since he released Ready Player One to $53.7 million in North America on its way to $583.5 million globally.
It will become Spielberg’s top-grossing opening weekend domestically for an original feature, as well as his company Amblin’s biggest original opening.
The film is appealing to older audiences, with 59 percent over 35, while 57 percent of the audience is male.
The Oscar-winning filmmaker conceived of the story, and then handed it off to his Jurassic Park screenwriter David Koepp to pen the sci-fi thriller about the race to reveal that extraterrestrial life is among us. Emily Blunt and Josh O’Connor are among the cast, with critics granting it strong reviews and audiences giving it a B CinemaScore.
Curry Barker’s word-of-mouth hit, Obsession, continues to breathe rarified air at the box office and is expected to bring in $19 million in its fifth weekend, declining just 25 percent. It will hit No. 2 and is the rare movie to have four consecutive weekends bigger than its opening ($17.2 million). The feature has broken numerous records for Focus, including becoming its biggest movie domestically and globally for the studio. It looks to end the weekend with a domestic haul of $188.3 million.
In international markets, Obsession is pacing ahead of horror hits such as Weapons, Nosferatu and Sinners at the same points in their lifespans. It is expected to end the weekend with $77.5 million internationally for a global haul of $265.8 million.
Paramount holdover Scary Movie is expected to hit No. 3 in its second weekend, with around $15 million and a decline of around 70 percent, while Kane Parsons’ Gen Z hit Backrooms is bringing in $11.2 million in its third weekend, to bring its domestic haul to a hefty $160 million. Globally, it will end the weekend at $262.3 million. The A24 film cost just $10 million to produce and is based on Parsons’ series of viral YouTube shorts.
Amazon MGM Studios’ Masters of the Universe is a non-factor in its second weekend, where the pricey adaptation of the Gen X favorite is expected to gross $9.2 million, declining 69 percent.
Michael, meanwhile, continued its record-breaking run, with Lionsgate’s Michael Jackson film becoming the top-grossing biopic of all time in recent days, adding $4.6 million to its domestic haul this weekend with its global tally topping the $911 million collected by Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody.
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Hey! A Jesse Eisenberg movie about community theatre! Fucking awesome!
I thought A Real Pain was fantastic so I’d be keen on his next project either way, but having Giamatti and Moore as the leads makes it even better.
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‘The Odyssey’ First Reactions: “Staggering … Nolan’s Biggest Film to Date” – Hollywood Reporter
Here’s what those who just saw Christopher Nolan’s epic are saying about the Universal film.
The first reactions to Christopher Nolan‘s The Odyssey are in.
Here is a sample of the comments about Nolan’s epic, which tells the story of the Greek hero Odysseus’ (Matt Damon) long, torturous and fantastical trip home from the Trojan War, back to the Kingdom of Ithaca to save his wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway) and son Telemachus (Tom Holland). The Odyssey is the first film to be entirely shot in the Imax format, and critics are being shown the film in Imax theaters, where available.
Universal is handling the first reactions a bit differently for The Odyssey. Instead of having dedicated “word of mouth” screenings that allow influencers and fan bloggers to react first to the film on social media, professional journalists and others who have seen the movie at its London premiere and other press screenings will be included in the first reaction wave (along with some influencers who took part in press junkets).
Time Out: Dense but accessible, packed with career-best work from the stacked cast – Samantha Morton is extraordinary – it’s a dizzying mix of craft and spectacle that’s built to last. Seen it twice, took so much away both times: a chilling vision of brutalized men seeing themselves in the eyes of women, a study of leadership and an old-school sweeping adventure tale. Even the Cyclops got me in the feels. There’s even a few laughs, too. Go see. Twice.”
Indie Wire: “The Odyssey: a surprisingly natural (and less despairing) Oppenheimer follow-up about a man haunted by defying the gods & dooming civilization — this one fights to avenge his own hubris. IMAX obviously immense. Too clunky to be S-tier Nolan, but the last act rewards the journey.”
Variety: “I have seen Christopher Nolan’s #TheOdyssey, and it is an astonishing achievement. A triumphant, spectacular epic. The performances from Tom Holland, Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, John Leguizamo, Robert Pattinson and Lupita Nyong’o are genuinely grand. And for some, truly, the best performances of their career! … Christopher Nolan is a visionary, and #TheOdyssey is a work of art … The battle scenes, especially at Troy, are breathtaking. It’s an incredible epic.”
The Independent: “Nolan’s biggest film to date. This film has about triple the number of huge set pieces than any of Nolan’s previous films, and every single one of them is breathtaking in their own way. In The Odyssey, Nolan showcases visual trickery in a way you’ve never seen a few before. The only criticism I have, and it’s a good problem, is … you’re often left wanting more of each set piece, and it certainly goes your way into height of the re-watchability factor of the film. I also can’t quite remember a film having such a stacked cast, where everyone delivers. Special shouts out to Tom Holland in his best role to date with Telemachus, Himesh Patel … and Samantha Morton who damn well steals the show with the few scenes she’s in.”
The Hollywood Reporter film editor Aaron Couch: “Been seeing his movies in theaters since Memento, and after 25 years, #TheOdyssey gives us a first: a fleshed out horror sequence directed by Christopher Nolan.”
DigitalSpy: “The Odyssey is staggering. Packed with intense and spectacular set pieces, often backed by a soul-rattling score, it builds to a final act that’s as good as anything Nolan’s done. Purists might baulk at the adaptation changes, but as an experience, nobody is doing it like Nolan.”
Collider: “Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey is *incredible*. I’ve been lucky enough to watch it twice and it gets better on the second viewing. I’m really blown away by this film. If you can, SEE IT IN @IMAX 70mm. It’s a jaw dropping experience. It’ll be great wherever you see it, but IMAX 70mm is the best option.”
Critic Eric Davis: “Christopher Nolan’s #TheOdyssey is an absolute triumph and a crowning cinematic achievement from one of the great filmmakers of our time. The production design is incredible, the action is breathtaking, and the scale is unlike anything he’s done before. What really surprised me is how much he embraces horror … Anne Hathaway is incredible, Matt Damon is excellent, and Tom Holland continues to prove he can do just about anything. But Robert Pattinson absolutely stole the show for me. Look, it’s the must-see cinematic event of the summer — and quite possibly the year. I can’t wait to watch it again.”
The Odyssey also features the nymph Calypso (Charlize Theron) and Penelope’s sniveling suitor, Antinous (Robert Pattinson), who is seeking to marry the queen and become the ruler of Ithaca. The film also features Odysseus’ servant Eumaeus (John Leguizamo) and Jon Bernthal as Menelaus, the Greek king of Sparta.
The Odyssey lands in theaters July 17.
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Yeah, that is a great trailer! If the movie is as good, Villanueva’s trilogy will be part of the cinematic Pantheon.
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Still a stupid name, but I’m so there.
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Paramount Sued By States In Bid to Block $111 Billion Warner Bros. Merger – Hollywood Reporter
A victory for the states could stop Paramount’s effort to become a theatrical giant in a case that will define entertainment and media for years to come.
A coalition of state attorneys general have sued Paramount to stop its $111 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, a sweeping legal challenge to a merger that threatens to reshape Hollywood amid the absence of the Trump administration’s intervention in big deals.
In a much-anticipated lawsuit filed in California federal court on Monday, the states allege that the acquisition will substantially throttle competition in wide-release and top-grossing theatrical distribution and cable licensing in violation of antitrust laws. They argue that the merger will combine two of the two five studios in Hollywood, leading to higher prices, fewer movies in theaters and a reduction in the variety and quality of content.
The states allege a violation of the Clayton Act, an antitrust law accounting for potential monopolies. They’ve asked Paramount not to close the deal until the case is decided. If not, they say they’ll file a temporary restraining order. The coalition is comprised of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon and Washington.
“The unlawful merger of these two entertainment behemoths would lead to higher prices, lower quality, and less content for film and television, harming movie theaters, basic cable distributors, and ultimately, audiences on every sofa and movie theater seat in the U.S.,” said California Attorney General Bonta in a statement. “California’s film and entertainment industry touches the lives of Americans daily — it comes into the living rooms of families, has a starring role in many young people’s first dates, and is a point of immense pride and employment for Californians up and down our state.”
The lawsuit, which may stretch on for years, marks another effort by state attorneys general to oppose major mergers as the government embraces a more lenient view on consolidation, particularly in media and entertainment. The Justice Department in June signed off on Paramount’s bid to purchase Warner, finding that the merger will increase competition in the markets for streaming, linear TV and the development, production or distribution of films for theatrical release. The green light doesn’t require any divestitures, behavioral remedies or concessions.
The approval and absence of concessions have magnified speculation of Trump putting his thumb on the scales for Paramount CEO David Ellison’s plans to assemble a media conglomerate. His father, Oracle scion Larry Ellison, has leveraged a symbiotic relationship with Trump, who has been critical of most mainstream coverage, to aid that effort. A merger between Paramount and Warner will bring CNN under the family’s control.
At the forefront of Paramount’s multipronged defense: tech giants like Netflix, Amazon and Google cornering Hollywood such that the only way to compete is through consolidation. Paramount chief Makan Delrahim has repeatedly pointed to “tech monopolies” threatening consumers, talent and labor across the industry.
So far, antitrust enforcers in China, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine, Serbia and North Macedonia have found that the deal doesn’t violate antitrust laws. Regulators probing foreign investments from Gulf sovereign wealth funds in Germany, Italy, France, Romani, Slovenia, Belgium, Czechia, New Zealand and Spain have also approved the merger.
Paramount awaits regulatory approvals from the Federal Communications Commission, U.K. antitrust regulators and the European Commission, which is expected to sign off on the merger ahead of an upcoming deadline to open an in-depth probe.
Another obstacle is posed by consumers who’ve sued to block the deal. In a lawsuit filed in April, Paramount subscribers alleged that the acquisition will substantially reduce competition in streaming, news and theatrical distribution. The merger will consolidate “Paramount’s ability and incentive to raise prices, reduce output, narrow slates, reduce quality, and worsen consumer-facing terms, including through control of distribution, exclusivity, windowing, and licensing,” stated the complaint.
If the deal is consummated, the combined company would have the third largest streaming platform behind Netflix and Disney and control roughly 24 percent of theatrical distribution, per the lawsuit.
To curry favor for the merger and quell concerns, David Ellison has pledged to release at least 30 movies a year theatrically with minimum 45-day theatrical windows and operate Paramount and Warner Bros. as independent studios. The former commitment has drawn criticism from some in the industry who are skeptical the company can maintain that output. A major concern is the estimated $79 billion in debt the combined company would carry if the deal is completed, with only $3 billion in annual free cash flow.
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