Matt Singer is the editor and critic of the website ScreenCrush.com. For five years, he was the on-air host of IFC News on the Independent Film Channel, hosting coverage of film festivals and red carpets around the world. A member of the New York Film Critics Circle, he’s been a frequent contributor to the television shows CBS This Morning Saturday and Ebert Presents At the Movies, and his writing has also appeared in print and online at The Village Voice, The Dissolve, and Indiewire. His first book, Marvel’s Spider-Man: From Amazing to Spectacular, is on sale now.
Matt Singer
Dan Aykroyd Says ‘Ghostbusters’ Should Have Been More ‘Inclusive to the Originators’
Dan Aykroyd clarified his comments about last year’s Ghostbusters, while Sony responded to his initial statements, made on a British TV show, criticizing director Paul Feig, particularly about costly reshoots Aykroyd claimed killed any possibility of further Ghostbusters sequels.
Apple Confirms Amazon Video Is Coming to Apple TV
It was rumored last month, and now it’s confirmed: After a long dispute between the two tech giants, Amazon Video is coming to Apple TV.
The Worst ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales‘ Reviews – Critics Are Raving!
Have you ever seen those movie ads on TV filled with gushing quotes from critics and thought to yourself, “I saw that movie; it was terrible. Where did they find these positive reviews?” If you have, you’re not alone — and you’re going to love ScreenCrush’s series, Critics Are Raving!, which balances the cinematic scales with trailers full of slightly more accurate (and slightly more negative) lines from reviews. Real critics. Real quotes. Really bad movies. That’s what’s Critics Are Raving! is all about.
Dan Aykroyd Slams Paul Feig, Says Costly Reshoots Killed ‘Ghostbusters’ Sequels
Last year’s Ghostbusters reboot was supposed to be the start of an entire new franchise (or perhaps even a universe of franchises) around the venerable ’80s horror comedy. Sony Pictures, which owns the rights to bust ghosts on the big screen, even created this new production company, Ghost Corps, to lead the charge on all these various efforts. There was talk of an all-male Ghostbusters to accompany the all-female team we got from director Paul Feig. And a new cartoon series was put into development as well. But since the movie opened to just so-so reviews and box office last year, developments on this front have been as quiet as Spook Central after a total protonic reversal.
Be Careful Googling ‘Wonder Woman,’ Or You Might Spoil the Ending
As we noted in our review of Wonder Woman, the primary antagonist of the film, the God of War Ares, is a bit of a mystery. Early in the film, a young Diana (Gal Gadot) is taught the origin of her race of Amazons, which involves Ares slaughtering all the other Greek gods. Many years later, Diana learns of World War I from Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) and believes it’s the work of Ares. So she sets off into the outside world to find him and kill him in order to free mankind from his influence.
Chris Pine Is Not a Fan of ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ and Violent Comic Book Movies
Behold Chris Pine in all his magnificent handsomeness. The strong jawline. The relaxed confidence. The way with a fedora (New Indiana Jones, anyone?) This is the Chris Pine of Wonder Woman, where he plays Steve Trevor, WWI spy and love interest of Gal Gadot’s Diana. After Trevor’s plane crashes off the coast of Diana’s island home, he becomes the first man to step foot on Themyscira. And Pine, already a star for his portrayal of Captain Kirk in the Star Trek reboot series, is terrific in the role, and great with Gadot. He turns Steve Trevor into one of the best non-super-powered characters in superhero movie history.
The Characters From ‘Cars 2’ Aren’t Featured in ‘Cars 3’
Last month, I had the opportunity to travel to Emeryville, California to screen footage from Pixar’s Cars 3, at the company’s headquarters and studio. At these sorts of advanced screenings it’s made clear from the start that you’re not seeing the entire movie, only select portions, and the amount they show you can vary. I attended a similar preview for The Good Dinosaur a few years ago in New York City and only saw three brief scenes from the movie.
Can Pixar Turn Adults Into ‘Cars’ Fans?
To date, Pixar Animation Studios has released 17 feature films. 16 hold positive ratings on Rotten Tomatoes. The lone exception? Cars 2. And the second-lowest scoring Pixar movie on Rotten Tomatoes is the first Cars, with a 74 percent rating. Critics don’t like Cars.
This ‘Beauty and the Beast’ Behind-the-Scenes Video Shows How Silly Dan Stevens Looked on Set
When special effects do their job, they create an illusion so seamless we forget we’re looking at something that’s not really there. The Beast in Disney’s hit live-action retelling of Beauty and the Beast is such an impressive work of motion-capture technology that it can be easy to overlook the amount of effort, energy, and looking incredibly stupid in a giant gray unitard required to turn Dan Stevens into a feral creature.
Adventures in Movie Food: Cold Stone Creamery’s Wonder Woman Ice Cream
ScreenCrush editor-in-chief Matt Singer loves movies and has an unholy fascination with food inspired by movies. These are his stories.
Is This the Final ‘Guardians of the Galaxy‘ Easter Egg?
Somewhere out there in the deepest darkest recesses of the galaxy, there is a Guardians of the Galaxy Easter egg so hidden and obscure that supposedly no one has found it. Since the first Guardians opened in 2014, James Gunn has touted the existence of this hidden Easter egg on social media, and even offered up a $100,000 bounty to anyone who could prove it didn’t exist (which is impossible, at least without the Infinity Stones to warp reality and change the concept of non-existence). So far, at least according to Gunn, no one has found this thing. The second Guardians arrived earlier this month, bringing renewed focus on the hidden egg, and still no one has located it.
2017 Was the Worst Memorial Day Weekend Box Office Since 1999
Memorial Day is the official start of summer, but in Movieland, summer starts well before, in early May or even sooner. (I generally say there four season on the calendar but only two seasons for movies: Summer and Awards.) Still, Memorial Day is still supposed to be a big deal in movie theaters; kids have an extra day off from school and Hollywood delivers some of the season’s biggest offerings.