The Accidental Turitz: It’s a Bummer There Aren’t Enough Movies This Summer Due to Hollywood’s Lack of Counterprogramming
I’m seeing Top Gun: Maverick for a second and third time over the next few days because I loved the movie so much the first time, and while I’m excited to see it again (and again), I’m just as excited to go back to the theater at all, given how few opportunities there seem to... »
Union Roundup: Will Hollywood Flee Production-Friendly States That Pass Anti-Abortion Laws?
An email from a pal and colleague brings us back to previous (and still unfolding) topics, including this week’s raft of primaries — especially Georgia’s. This epistolary-minded friend straddles the above-and-below lines of production and writes from the purple-trending-blue state of New Mexico, saying he’d read a recent column and “was interested, in particular, about the... »
The Accidental Turitz: When It Comes to Peak TV, Too Much of a Good Thing Is Never Bad, Until It Is
I spend a lot of time in front of screens these days, and not just the one on which I write this weekly column. There is the external monitor hooked to the laptop, my phone, my TV, my iPad, and the movie theaters where I catch as many flicks as possible, perhaps to make up... »
Union Roundup: New ICG President Baird Steptoe Sr. Will Have to Fight for Working Families Amid Larger Cultural Battles
IA Local 600 — the International Cinematographers Guild — just had an election for new officers, as many readers here know. Camera assistant Baird B. Steptoe Sr. was elected to a three-year term to replace outgoing President John Lindley, ASC, with results expected to be certified at the local’s next board meeting in June.... »
The Accidental Turitz: Marvel Has Developed a Bit of a Story Problem Due to Demands of Disney+
Just a heads up, I’m going to be talking about Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and I’m going to be getting into spoiler territory, so if you haven’t seen it and want to avoid finding out anything you don’t want to know ahead of time, come back to read this after you’ve... »
Union Roundup: If the Supreme Court Overturns Roe v. Wade, It Will Have Major Consequences for Hollywood
The Ankler, as many readers know, is one of the most recent entries into the roiling, chumming waters of “Hollywood trade publications” with a growing online presence, multiple newsletters, and most recently, a podcast. They remain gleefully puckish in their outlook (not to be confused with “optimistic”) about showbiz, along with their mission of... »
Above the Line Exclusive: Too Old to Die Young Star Augusto Aguilera Joins Jennifer Garner in Apple’s The Last Thing He Told Me
Augusto Aguilera, who last starred opposite Miles Teller in Nicolas Winding Refn‘s gritty Amazon series Too Old to Die Young, is set to join Jennifer Garner in Apple’s limited series The Last Thing He Told Me, Above the Line has exclusively learned. Garner stars as a woman who forms an unexpected relationship with her... »
The Accidental Turitz: Forget Family, Fast X Director Swap Is About Big Money and Bigger Egos
By now you’ve heard the news that Justin Lin has departed from the latest entry in the Fast & Furious franchise, which I believe is known as Fast X, because of course it is. The man who almost singlehandedly resurrected the franchise and has directed five of the first nine movies in the so-called... »
Union Roundup: After One Amazon Warehouse Unionizes on Staten Island, a Second Votes Against It
A fun Union Roundup fact as the Merry Month of May gets underway: Did you know that our September “Labor Day” was likely started as a “safer” alternative to “International Workers’ Day,” which falls on that “May Day” — the 1st of the month — that just passed? As National Geographic tells it, May Day,... »
Dear Mr. Brody Director Keith Maitland on His Fascinating Documentary and the Fate of All Those Unopened Letters
Those who read my Top 10 list last year might recall that my #2 movie of 2021 was the documentary Dear Mr. Brody, which told the incredible story of Michael Brody Jr., a 21-year-old hippie millionaire who in 1970 promised to give away his $25 million inheritance in an effort to usher in a new... »