Harrison Ford Joins the MCU, The Rings of Power Wraps Up Season 1, and We Talk to Some Cenobites
TGIF, am I right? In the latest /Film Newsletter, Harrison Ford is (probably) joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power wraps its first season, we have an exclusive interview with the new Hellraiser Cenobites (well, the actors that play them, but you can pretend we're talking to the actual demons), we reveal the truth about The Watcher, and more.
Have You Heard the News?
I guess it was only a matter of time, but it looks like Harrison Ford is joining the MCU. While it's not 100% confirmed yet, we have it on good authority that this story is true — Ford will be stepping in for the late William Hurt and playing Thaddeus Ross in the film "Thunderbolts." Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, Wyatt Russell, and David Harbour are on board as well. Ford will also appear in Captain America 4.
The upcoming HBO Max Penguin series, featuring Colin Farrell wearing all of that makeup, will be set one week after the events of The Batman.
Dwayne Johnson, who stars in the upcoming DC superhero flick Black Adam, really wants a DC/Marvel crossover. That seems unlikely, but maybe The Rock will furiously lift weights in front of all the producers until they decide to do his bidding.
It turns out the actor playing Sauron on The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power didn't know they were playing Sauron right away. And that's relatable because all of us could be Sauron right now and just not know it. (Beware of spoilers if you're not caught up, of course.)
Robbie Coltrane, a great character actor probably best known for playing Hagrid in the Harry Potter films, has died at the age of 72.
Reviews
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 1 has come to an end, and /Film's Jeremy Mathai, who recapped the entire season, says the finale sticks the landing.
She Said, based on the true story of the reporters who broke the Harvey Weinstein story, screened at NYFF, and critic Hoai-Tran Bui says the film is "impassioned but pedestrian."
Features and Exclusives
The Watcher is now streaming on Netflix, and it's based on a pretty creepy true story. But how accurate is the show?
We talked with some of the new Cenobite actors from the Hellraiser reboot about their makeup and their characters.
Here's how Michael Giacchino pulled off the big transformation scene in Werewolf By Night.
Speaking of Werewolf By Night, here are some Easter eggs we caught during the special.
As we remember the late Angela Lansbury, here are 14 of her best movies, ranked.
Marvel's Blade reboot needs a new director. We picked 5 choices that could get the job done.
Video of the Day
What is film criticism? It seems that a lot of people don't know the answer to that question, and I'd like to help. A certain publication I will not name recently published a piece more or less declaring a prominent film critic "wrong" for giving certain movies negative reviews.
Folks, that's the sort of thing that drives me bonkers. That's not how criticism works. You shouldn't need to agree with a critic all the time. Instead, you should be curious to read conflicting views, provided they're done well.
For more insight into the matter, here's an old video of Siskel & Ebert giving out advice on what film criticism is, and what it should do. Even if you don't agree with everything said here, it's pretty darn insightful.