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
Seven Writers Are Now at Work on ‘Godzilla vs. Kong’
Pitting Godzilla against King Kong, something that has already happened once before in movie history, may sound like a simple matter. But no, you can’t just write “Godzilla vs. Kong” on a blank piece of paper and expect it to happen. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Legendary has recruited no less than seven screenwriters and assigned them to the task of turning their parallel Godzilla and Kong franchises into a singular cinematic universe.
Robert Osborne, Historian and Turner Classic Movies Host, Dies at 84
Lovers of classic film have lost one of their greatest champions. Robert Osborne, the longtime host of Turner Classic Movies, has passed away at the age of 84. Here is the statement from TCM, via Twitter:
25 ‘Logan’ Rumors That Turned Out to Be False
The internet’s movie rumormongers did get a few things right about Logan, Hugh Jackman’s third and supposedly final solo Wolverine movie. They did correctly predict that Logan’ female clone, X-23, would co-star in the film. They also anticipated that the movie would be loosely based on a Marvel Comics storyline called “Old Man Logan.” Of course, after that rumor was initially posted, it was also publicly debunked by one site. You win some, you lose some.
How Many ‘King Kong’ Movies Are There?
He’s big. He’s mean. He has a thing for blondes. He’s King Kong, and he’s back in theaters this month in Kong: Skull Island from director Jordan Vogt-Roberts and Legendary. The average life expectancy for a gorilla is about 40 years; at 84 years old, Kong’s still going strong, and arguably looking better than ever. If you’re significantly younger than Mr. Kong and new to the franchise, here’s what you need to know about his past, present, and future, along with his many imitators. (Note that there are a few SPOILERS about the old Kongs, but not Skull Island.)
See If You Can Spot the Pun in the New ‘Fate of the Furious’ Poster
I’ll be honest: I didn’t get the pun in the title of The Fate of the Furious until just now, when I got my eyes on the film’s latest poster. Take a look at it and see if you get it. (Maybe you got it already. If you did, sit quietly and give the rest a moment to figure it out.)
‘Logan’ Review: One Last Ride for Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, And It’s a Good One
The first X-Men movie opened on July 14, 2000. A child born early that year would have just turned 17 by the time the tenth entry in the X-Men series, Logan, hits theaters next month. That is fortunate – viewers are going to need a driver’s license to get into this movie, which possesses the hardest R rating of any American superhero movie in history. In the past, Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine would swing his razor-sharp adamantium claws and bad guys would simply fall to the ground. There was never any visible evidence of his brutality. There’s more graphic violence in Logan’s first scene – severed limbs, gruesome disembowlings – than in all of the other of the Wolverine and X-Men movies combined.
Ben Affleck’s Batman Movie Will Reportedly Undergo ‘Major Rewrites’
These are dark days for the Dark Knight.
Every Batman Movie Ranked From Worst to Best
We ranked 75 years of Batman movies in one list.
New Netflix Instant Releases: February 2017
January’s almost over, and when the calendar rolls over to February, there will be a whole new batch of movies and TV shows coming to Netflix for your streaming pleasure. This month’s highlights include a few big recent premieres (like Pixar’s latest hit, Finding Dory), and a few big Netflix Originals (like the new series Santa Clarita Diet starring Drew Barrymore). The recent Sundance hit I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore shows up next month, and if you’re looking for something to watch on Valentine’s day there’s also a “big, sexy” special starring Michael Bolton. There’s no way that could work out badly for you.
ScreenCrush’s Complete (and Slightly Altitude Sick) Coverage of the 2017 Sundance Film Festival
January is considered something of a dump month at the movies, when studios quietly release many of their clunkers. (With apologies to Monster Trucks, see: Monster Trucks.) At this time of year, true cinephiles basically have to hang their hats on the awards contenders from the previous year still making their way into theaters around the country, and, for those lucky enough to attend, the annual Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.
William Peter Blatty, Writer of ‘The Exorcist,’ Dies at 89
No list of the greatest horror movies ever made is complete without 1973’s The Exorcist. The film was directed by William Friedkin and based on the novel of the same name by William Peter Blatty, who adapted his own book to the screen and won an Oscar for his screenplay. Sadly, Blatty passed away yesterday at the age of 89. Friedkin himself tweeted about the news a short while ago:
The ‘Wonder Woman’ Villain Has Been Revealed
The awesome trailers and posters for Wonder Woman play up the movie’s heroes: Gal Gadot as Princess Diana, who leaves behind her home of Themyscira to join the world of men; Chris Pine’s Steve Trevor, a World War I pilot who becomes her love interest, and Connie Nielsen’s Queen Hippolyta, Diana’s mother. The marketing does a great job of selling the movie’s action, tone, and mood — but it’s barely addressed who, if anyone is the movie’s primary villain.