Neill Blomkamp’s new zombie AI ‘film’ is just slop warmed over
Neill Blomkamp’s new zombie AI ‘film’ is just slop warmed over

On Monday, District 9 and Gran Turismo director Neill Blomkamp unveiled his latest project: a 13-minute sci-fi short titled Nightborne that’s loosely based on Peter Watts’ 2014 novel Echopraxia. The short comes from Blomkamp’s new AI startup / production company, Barley Studios, and features characters whose voices and faces are modeled after human actors. But […]

The Odyssey turned me into an IMAX believer
The Odyssey turned me into an IMAX believer

After seeing Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey for the first time early last week, I came away impressed, but somewhat conflicted about two of the film’s more fantastical set pieces. While those scenes were beautifully crafted and tremendously acted, there was something a little bit off about the way they hit my eye. I spent days […]

Avengers: Doomsday’s first trailer puts everyone on high alert
Avengers: Doomsday’s first trailer puts everyone on high alert

After months of teasing us with reminders about how large Avengers: Doomsday’s cast is going to be, Marvel has finally released a proper trailer for the film. Though Robert. Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom definitely appears to be causing a lot of the chaos in Doomsday’s first trailer, the movie seems like it’s going to feature […]

AI slop movies are the new direct-to-video cash grabs
AI slop movies are the new direct-to-video cash grabs

This weekend, cinephiles across the world will march to their local theaters to feast their eyes on Christopher Nolan’s new adaptation of The Odyssey. It’s on track to rake in anywhere between $80-$100 million in just a few days. People are clearly excited to see how Nolan uses cutting-edge filmmaking tech to make the Homeric […]

Influencer screenings aren’t going away
Influencer screenings aren’t going away

For a few days, it seemed like Universal decided that there would be no advanced screenings of Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey for influencers. But on Monday, influencers sat alongside traditional critics and journalists at special showings of The Odyssey specifically for the associated press junket. Despite what it may have looked like, Universal was not […]

After a great start, DC’s new cinematic universe is already slowing down
After a great start, DC’s new cinematic universe is already slowing down

While Kara Zor-El’s appearance at the end of James Gunn’s Superman was a very pleasant surprise, Warner Bros. Discovery’s plan to fast-track a standalone Supergirl feature always felt a little dubious. It seemed odd that, after Superman, the studio wanted to flesh out its new cinematic universe with films about another Kryptonian and one of […]

The Cube is Jim Henson’s little-known proto-Black Mirror masterpiece
The Cube is Jim Henson’s little-known proto-Black Mirror masterpiece

I’m sure we’re all familiar with Dark Crystal, so we know that Jim Henson can be weird and tackle slightly more mature subject matter. But there is little in his oeuvre that is quite as mind-bending as the Muppetless The Cube. This 1969 teleplay was produced for an NBC anthology series called Experiment in Television, […]

Hollywood is bending the knee to OpenAI
Hollywood is bending the knee to OpenAI

Netflix, A24, Focus Features, and Warner Bros.’ Clockwork have all reportedly decided to pass on picking up Artificial – director Luca Guadagnino’s new biographical drama about OpenAI cofounder / CEO Sam Altman – for distribution deals. And while Neon and Mubi are still said to be interested in the film, this situation makes it seem […]

Google invests in A24 to build AI movie tools
Google invests in A24 to build AI movie tools

Google’s DeepMind AI lab is teaming up with A24 to develop new movie production technologies that aim to help future filmmakers “expand their storytelling possibilities.” As part of this new research and development collaboration, The Wall Street Journal reports that Google is investing “around $75 million” into A24, marking the first time the search giant […]

In Toy Story 5, the problem really is these damn phones (and tablets)
In Toy Story 5, the problem really is these damn phones (and tablets)

The Toy Story franchise began with a story about a vintage doll feeling threatened by the arrival of an electronic action figure. Woody and Buzz’s rivalry embodied a shift that was happening in the ’90s as children’s toys were becoming more technologically sophisticated, and while toys have gotten even more tech-focused in the years since, […]