Watch The Official U.S. Trailer For Coming-Of-Age Flick ‘Murina’

Executive produced by Martin Scorsese, the coming-of-age film ‘Murina‘ is set to make its debut in the states on July 8 in select theaters.

The movie won the Camera d’Or (Golden Camera) award at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival.

Murina, which translates to eel, takes place along Croatia’s Adriatic coast and hones in on 17-year-old diver and eel fisherwoman Julija (Gracija Filipović) as she grapples with her suffocating father Ante (Leon Lucev) and stifled mother Nela (Danica Curcic). When wealthy family friend Javier (Cliff Curtis) comes to town for a business investment, Julija sees a way out — no matter the costs.

Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović directed the movie, and as mentioned abiove, Scorsese liked the film so much he jumped on board as an executive producer.

‘Murina’ also premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, where it received mostly positive reviews. It seems like a lot of critics were amazed by just how beautiful the film looks on screen.

As mentioned above, ‘Murina’ will open in select theaters on July 8, 2022. Check out the trailer below…

Jonah Hill Lands Huge Role In Upcoming Martin Scorsese ‘Grateful Dead’ Film

Well, this is exciting. According to a new report, Martin Scorsese is teaming up with Apple for his next project, which is reportedly an untitled biopic about The Grateful Dead.

Scorsese will direct/produce the flick, and according to insiders, Jonah Hill has already signed on to play the group’s frontman, Jerry Garcia. He’ll also join as a producer.

Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski are writing the script. They received a lot of love from critics for writing American Crime Story: The People vs O.J. Simpson.

While its unknown what will be covered in the film, the story of the group goes back to the band’s formation in the Bay Area amid the rise of the psychedelic counterculture of the ’60s. They continued to record albums and conduct tours where Deadhead fans would follow them throughout the years all over the country for lengthy rave-like jam sessions. The good times came to an end when band leader Jerry Garcia died in 1995, though surviving members have done their best to carry on.

Apple has rights to use the band’s musical catalogue in the film, so it looks like all systems are working here.

As some of you may remember, Hill and Scorsese previously worked together on The Wolf of Wall Street, so they should be familiar with each other.

No word on when production is expected to begin, but we’ll keep you posted.

Jesse Plemons Taking Over Starring Role In Martin Scorsese’s Western Drama ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’

If you’ve been sleeping on Jesse Plemons, now is the time to wake the freakity freak up. The dude is one of the most talented actors in Hollywood right now. He can do drama, he can do comedy, he can do action…he can do it all!

And now, the best of the best want to work with him. It’s being reported that Jesse Plemons will be joining Martin Scorsese’s big budget Western drama, Killers of the Flower Moon.

The film has reportedly gone through some major changes this past year, which resulted in Paramount selling the project to Apple. Apparently, there were changes to the script that made it less commercial.

According to the report, Plemons will have the lead role in this film, which is big news because the lead role was first going to be Leonardo DiCaprio.

Leo will now play a secondary character, which is apparently what he wanted from the start.

Based on David Grann’s bestseller and set in 1920s Oklahoma, Killers of the Flower Moon depicts the serial murder of members of the oil-wealthy Osage Nation, a string of brutal crimes that came to be known as the Reign of Terror. Plemons will play the lead FBI agent investigating the murders.

Plemons should still be in the mindset of an FBI agent, considering he just played one in the film, Judas and the Black Messiah.

‘Flower Moon’ will begin filming in May.

‘Avengers: Endgame’ Directors Respond To Martin Scorsese’s Comments On Marvel

Yes, we are still talking about Martin Scorsese’s comments on Marvel and cinema. You all know the story. Scorsese recently came out and said he doesn’t believe Marvel/Superhero flicks are cinema, at least not what he considers to be cinema.

Several people have responded to his comments. Some people agree, while others think he’s being a pretentious d**k.

Now the directors behind ‘Avengers: Endgame‘ are speaking out. Joe and Anthony Russo directed Endgame, which made nearly $3 billion at the box office.

During a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the brothers had this to say…

Ultimately, we define cinema as a film that can bring people together to have a shared, emotional experience … But, at the end of the day, what do we know? We’re just two guys from Cleveland, Ohio, and ‘cinema’ is a New York word. In Cleveland, we call them movies.

The other way to think about it, too, is nobody owns cinema. We don’t own cinema. You don’t own cinema. Scorsese doesn’t own cinema.

That’s a pretty fair response. They got in a little shade with the “cinema is a New York word” comment, but they weren’t at all insulting.

Hopefully this whole debate can end now. As you all know, I’m not a big fan of superhero films, but at the same time, I don’t give a f**k if you are. If you like it, then great. Hollywood is all about entertainment, and the Marvel flicks are entertaining millions of people around the world.

Robert Downey Jr. Declined To Campaign For Oscar For His Tony Stark Portrayal

As you all know, I’m not a huge Marvel/Superhero fan; however, it would be hard for anyone to ignore Robert Downey Jr.’s performance in the films as Tony Stark/Iron Man.

He’s one of the best parts of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and there were talks of him joining the Oscar race for his role.

But during a recent interview on The Howard Stern Show, Robert admitted he told them “let’s not” when it came down to campaigning for an Oscar.

He also brought up Martin Scorsese’s recent comments on superhero films not being cinema, which we covered yesterday.

Robert was pretty sarcastic about the whole thing.

I’ve always had other interests, and according to Scorsese, it’s not cinema. I gotta take a look at that, ya know?” I mean, it plays in theaters. I appreciate his opinion, because I think it’s like anything — we need all of the different perspectives, so we can come to center and move on,

Stern then asked Robert if he believed Scorsese was jealous of Marvel’s success.

Of course not … In his view, and by the way, there’s a lot to be said for how these genre movies — and I was happy to be a part of the problem, if there is one — denigrated the art form [of] cinema. By the way, when you come in like a stomping beast and eliminate the competition in such a demonstrative way, it’s phenomenal

Damn. Those are fighting words. He was trying to be subtle with his snark, but we all see it.

Samuel L. Jackson Responds To Martin Scorsese’s Negative Comments On Superhero Films

You probably heard the controversy over the weekend. Legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese started some trouble when he compared Superhero/Marvel flicks to theme parks.

During an interview, he revealed he tried to watch the films, but he just can’t…

I don’t see them. I tried, you know? But that’s not cinema. Honestly, the closest I can think of them, as well made as they are, with actors doing the best they can under the circumstances, is theme parks.

He’s throwing some shade, no doubt about it. And I don’t necessarily disagree with him. If you’ve been following this site for any length of time, then you know I’m not the biggest fan of comic book films.

That being said, I’m not sure his comparison is a fair one. Times are changing, and he might not like it, but cinema is changing. Lots and lots of people like these movies, and just because you personally might not like them, doesn’t mean they don’t deserve the same amount of respect.

While walking the red carpet for Tyler Perry’s movie studio grand opening, Samuel L. Jackson fired back at Scorsese.

I mean that’s like saying Bugs Bunny ain’t funny. Films are films. Everybody doesn’t like his stuff either. There are a lot of Italian-Americans that don’t think he should be making films about them like that. Everybody’s got an opinion, so I mean it’s okay. Ain’t going to stop nobody from making movies.

That’s a great reply. Little disappointed by the lack of f-bombs, but hey, we’ll take it.

Check Out The First Image Of Joe Pesci And Robert De Niro In Netflix’s ‘The Irishman’

Netflix plans to release Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman‘ on its streaming platform later this year, but before the release, the mob drama will premiere at the 2019 New York Film Festival.

The movie will actually kick off the 57th edition of the festival, which will begin on September 27, 2019.

After the festival premiere, The Irishman will be released in select theaters and worldwide on Netflix. Joe Pesci, Al Pacino and Robert De Niro star in the movie.

Pesci stars as Pennsylvania mob boss Russell Bufalino, with Pacino co-starring as Teamsters president Jimmy Hoffa, and De Niro as their right-hand man, the titular Irishman, Frank Sheeran. The film will utilize extensive de-aging technology to tell its time-spanning story.

Obviously because of the players involved, this movie is already getting Oscar buzz. It’s too early to know if it’ll be a serious contender, but we know Netflix is respected in the industry now, so it being a Netflix release won’t hurt its chances.

In addition to the festival announcement, they also released two images from the movie.

Mark Wahlberg Reveals He Rejected ‘The Departed’ Role Multiple Times Before Finally Accepting

Mark Wahlberg has only one acting Oscar nomination, and it was for his supporting role in Martin Scorsese’s The Departed.

One would think the offer to work with Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jack Nicholson and Matt Damon would be enough for Wahlberg, but it wasn’t. He didn’t want to just have a supporting role. He didn’t feel it was right for him, so he straight up rejected Scorsese, which of course pissed off Wahlberg’s agent.

“Wahlberg remembered Scorsese reacting to his rejection of the film by staying silent for a minute and saying ‘ok.’ It only took five minutes for Wahlberg’s agent to call back and chastise him for turning down an icon like Scorsese. ‘What the fuck?’ Wahlberg said his agent asked him. ‘Just go talk to [Scorsese].’ Despite Wahlberg’s resistance, Scorsese and the actor’s agent knew the part was the right choice and concocted a plan to get Wahlberg to see it for himself.”

They sent Wahlberg on a plane to meet with Scorsese face-to-face. Mark read the script again and declined again, this time with a bit of an attitude.

“I read the script again, and I was pretty angry and I said again I wasn’t going to do it. Marty told me, ‘Look at this part, look at what you get to do with all these people.’”

Mark thought about it some more and asked Scorsese if he’d be able to improvise, Scorsese assured him he’d be free to do whatever the hell he wanted, which convinced Mark to take the role. And it’s a good thing he did, ’cause like we said, that’s his only acting Oscar nomination.

Jamie Foxx Is Preparing To Play Mike Tyson In Film That Will Reportedly Be Directed By Martin Scorsese

Will Jamie Foxx finally get his wish to play Mike Tyson in a biopic? Well, maybe. If you’ve been following Foxx for the past few years, you’ve probably heard him mention this project multiple times. He’s been wanting to land this role for a long time.

And now it looks like everything might be coming together. A source claims Foxx has been in the gym training for the movie, and it hasn’t been going so well…

“Jamie went to a couple of sessions with his trainer in the gym for this movie. He looked quite good throwing a few jabs and crosses against the pads. But when he tried a bit of sparring, he didn’t fare so well. He took a couple of hooks and walked out. He knows if he wants to play Iron Mike then he needs to improve that side of his game.”

This project would reportedly be directed by Martin Scorsese, but we must warn you that in our professional opinion, this source sounds like he/she is full of sh*t.

I mean, they included this line in their report…

“Mike knows it is Jamie’s dream to play him and they have talked about gym work and how he could put him through his paces. The only thing is that if they go sparring and Mike connects, Jamie may never make any movie again.”

That doesn’t sound real at all. It sounds like someone was bored and hit up some tip line to spread lies. We’re not saying Foxx doesn’t want to play Tyson in a movie, ’cause it’s clear he does.

But is he actively training for it right now? Probably not. Doesn’t even sound like there’s a script.

A Joker Origin Movie Is Being Developed, And Martin Scorsese Will Reportedly Produce It

More comic book news? Sure. Warner Bros and DC are currently in the early stages of another Batman Universe spinoff film. This new project will be telling the origin story of the legendary villain, The Joker.

The studio has hired The Hangover’s Todd Phillips and 8 Mile’s Scott Silver to write the movie. Phillips will also direct the movie, which is being produced by Martin Scorsese.

Deadline reports:

“I’m told that the intention is to make an origin story that isn’t part of any other iteration. The Joker has memorably been part of two Batman movies in the form of Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger, and was most recently played by Jared Leto in the first Suicide Squad film. He will reprise in the Suicide Squad sequel and the Harley Quinn spinoff, but this new film will launch the character with a different actor, possibly younger. An intriguing part is the setting. The intention is to make a gritty and grounded hard-boiled crime film set in early-’80s Gotham City that isn’t meant to feel like a DC movie as much as one of Scorsese’s films from that era.”

That’s not a surprise. 10 years ago it would have been surprising, but now every comic book film is trying to be something ~different~

At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if DC released a Batman film set in the future where Batman questions if he was born in the right body.

“Set in 2025, an aging Batman begins to question his entire life after he has an eye-opening dinner with Caitlyn Jenner. In this thrilling, coming-of-gender drama, Batman fights against the alt-right in a quest to just…fit in.”