https://collider.com Examine the past, present, and future of film with in-depth writing on classics, overlooked favorites, blockbusters, and the filmmakers behind the movies you love. Thu, 04 Jan 2024 23:00:14 GMT en-US hourly 60 The story opens with a familiar scene. A Cowboy rests on a wide-open, black-and-white Western landscape. Kirk Douglas' hat shades his eyes. Something is different though; a rumble on the soundtrack, growing louder. The cowboy looks up and sees a trio of jets leading contrails through the sky. The clash between the opening images of David Miller's 1962 proto-revisionist Western Lonely Are the Brave is almost violent. The archetypal cowboy character we recognize from our movie screens is drawn pertinently as a mythic figure at odds with the world we see through our windows.

]]> Tue, 02 Jan 2024 21:31:15 GMT https://collider.com/kirk-douglas-lonely-are-the-brave/ Is love an inherently good thing? True love, that is, being spiritually tied to a soul mate who sees you and connects with you in a way that no one else possibly could. Generations upon generations have been raised on the idea of finding "the one", even outside heteronormative standards, and to cherish that as a goal you strive towards in life. But what if there were downsides to a love like that? Could you move on from such a love, if something happens? What if your chance at recapturing that love requires you to tread unsavory moral waters? Is it possible to truly live in such a morass of confusion? These are the zones of interest that Jonathan Glazer sought to explore with his vastly underappreciated 2004 film Birth, resulting in one of the most profoundly unsettling experiences in 21st-century cinema.

]]> Thu, 04 Jan 2024 23:00:14 GMT https://collider.com/birth-movie-jonathan-glazer/ In 2014, directors Bryce McGuire and Rod Blackhurst gave us a modest (clocking in at just three minutes) short film that sees a woman tormented by paranormal beings while swimming in her backyard pool. Not a lot happens, but it’s still an effectively frightening short, full of shadow play, distorted views, and the seemingly endless abyss of water. Like Skinamarink that would follow years later, 2014's Night Swim capitalized on a childhood irrational fear that many have shared. Is there something lying at the bottom of the pool, waiting for us to dive deeper so it can grab our leg and drag us down with them? It makes absolutely no sense, but when do fears ever play into our rationality?

]]> Thu, 04 Jan 2024 20:00:13 GMT https://collider.com/night-swim-review/ Editor's note: The following contains spoilers for Eileen.

]]> Tue, 02 Jan 2024 21:31:16 GMT https://collider.com/eileen-ending-explained/ Despite earning the reputation as being one of, if not the most charismatic actor in the film industry, George Clooney’s work behind the camera has produced increasingly diminishing results. While he peaked with his impressive debut Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and his award-nominated biopic Good Night, and Good Luck, Clooney’s work as a filmmaker has continued to disappoint, as he’s failed to capture the same specificity that defined him as an actor. While he may be better suited to stick in front of the camera, Clooney proved himself as a filmmaker with his brilliant 2011 political thriller The Ides of March. With its incendiary depiction of a modern American Presidential election, The Ides of March indicated that Clooney could tackle the complexities of current events without sacrificing his film’s entertainment value.

]]> Mon, 01 Jan 2024 02:00:18 GMT https://collider.com/ides-of-march-george-clooney-director/ Hollywood is rife with breakouts, virtuosos, typecasts, and, unfortunately, miscasting — which is why you’ll rarely see an actor like Harrison Ford play a villain or Michael Wincott play the good guy. Diversity is key, however, so we often see actors taking chances on roles that may or may not fit them. Not every action star is cut out for comedy, and not every comedic actor is meant to do action, but it does happen quite frequently. When Die Hard changed the action genre in the late '80s, many of its meatier stalwarts took the cue to expand their repertoire, adding more comedy to their offerings. One of the more deft performances in this series of noble experiments is Sylvester Stallone’s turn as Angelo “Snaps” Provolone in the 1991 comedy crime caper Oscar.

]]> Wed, 03 Jan 2024 00:31:15 GMT https://collider.com/sylvester-stallone-oscar-movie/ Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for Night Swim.

]]> Thu, 04 Jan 2024 23:00:14 GMT https://collider.com/night-swim-ending-explained/ It's been a long time since David Lynch finished Twin Peaks, and many of us have been longing to get back that eerie, dreamy feeling only the Red Room can convey. If that's your case, look no further. There are many works out there that try to emulate this feeling, but perhaps the best one is Kiss of the Spider Woman, an underrated gem by Brazilian director Héctor Babenco. This is the work that gave William Hurt his Best Actor Oscar in 1986, with equally great supporting performances from Raul Julia and Sônia Braga. Set within the confinement of a jail cell and the vastness of human imagination, this is the perfect fix for those who appreciate a good story set in the blurry lines between what's real and fantastic.

]]> Sun, 31 Dec 2023 19:45:18 GMT https://collider.com/kiss-of-the-spider-woman/ The rumor that The Dark Knight Rises was supposed to feature the return of Heath Ledger’s Joker has followed the film since its inception. To be fair, it’s easy to see why. Despite initially being a controversial choice for the role, Ledger’s performance in The Dark Knight earned universal acclaim from fans and critics alike, and has since been cited as the greatest in the entire superhero genre. It’s no surprise Warner Bros. would be eager to bring him back, but the devastating events of January 2008 put a stop to that.

]]> Thu, 04 Jan 2024 20:00:15 GMT https://collider.com/the-dark-knight-rises-joker-cgi/ The rumor has been swirling for years: supposedly, Quentin Tarantino asked Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love to play Lance the drug dealer and his wife Jody in 1994's Pulp Fiction. Often repeated as fact, the rumor appears to originate with statements made by Love herself, and it's bolstered by the bizarre point that Tarantino's name appears in the "Special Thanks" of the liner notes to Nirvana's third and final album, In Utero, which was released September 21, 1993 — coincidentally (or not?) the day after production began on Pulp Fiction. So did the director actually try to recruit Cobain and Love for his film? The short answer is maybe, but probably not.

]]> Tue, 02 Jan 2024 02:45:16 GMT https://collider.com/pulp-fiction-quentin-tarantino-kurt-cobain/