• Ben Affleck Says Friends Worried He’d ‘Drink Himself to Death’ If He Didn’t Give Up Batman
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    Indiewire

    Ben Affleck Says Friends Worried He’d ‘Drink Himself to Death’ If He Didn’t Give Up Batman

    Affleck once said he left "The Batman" because he couldn't crack the script, but now he says there were far more personal issues at stake.

  • ‘Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey’: Here’s What Went Wrong, and What Went Right
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    Indiewire

    ‘Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey’: Here’s What Went Wrong, and What Went Right

    The entertaining e-ride created by Margot Robbie and a team of women scored upbeat reviews and previews before it stumbled in theaters.

  • Liza Minnelli Has No Interest in Seeing Zellweger’s ‘Judy,’ Even If It’s an Oscar Frontrunner
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    Indiewire

    Liza Minnelli Has No Interest in Seeing Zellweger’s ‘Judy,’ Even If It’s an Oscar Frontrunner

    Zellweger is the frontrunner to win the Best Actress prize for playing Judy Garland, mother of Liza Minnelli.

  • James Bond Producer Says Next 007 ‘Can Be Any Color, but He Is Male’
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    Indiewire

    James Bond Producer Says Next 007 ‘Can Be Any Color, but He Is Male’

    The upcoming "No Time to Die" will be Daniel Craig's fifth and final outing as cinema's most beloved spy.

  • Todd Phillips Didn’t Know Joaquin Phoenix Agreed to Star in ‘Joker,’ Until He Showed Up for Wardrobe
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    Indiewire

    Todd Phillips Didn’t Know Joaquin Phoenix Agreed to Star in ‘Joker,’ Until He Showed Up for Wardrobe

    Phoenix said "yes" to "Joker" in a most unconventional way that's also, well, very Joaquin Phoenix.

  • Kristen Stewart Not ‘Gutted’ Over ‘Charlie’s Angels’ Box-Office Flop: ‘Dude, We Just Wanted to Have a Good Time’
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    Indiewire

    Kristen Stewart Not ‘Gutted’ Over ‘Charlie’s Angels’ Box-Office Flop: ‘Dude, We Just Wanted to Have a Good Time’

    "If I had made a movie that wasn’t good and one that I wasn’t proud of and a lot of people saw it, I would be devastated," Stewart said in a recent interview.

  • Emma Watson wears dress tucked into thigh-high boots at 'Little Women' premiere
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    Francesca Specter

    Emma Watson wears dress tucked into thigh-high boots at 'Little Women' premiere

    The cast of the much-anticipated film gathered on the red carpet in New York City.

  • Disney Plus warns viewers of scenes with 'outdated cultural depictions,' tobacco smoking
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    The Canadian Press

    Disney Plus warns viewers of scenes with 'outdated cultural depictions,' tobacco smoking

    TORONTO — Disney Plus is warning subscribers that some of Walt Disney's most beloved classics might contain "outdated cultural depictions."A number of films available on the streaming platform, which launched Tuesday, included cautionary notes in the plot descriptions about problematic representations in some of the characters.Numerous titles from Disney's extensive library carry the warning, among them "Peter Pan," a 1953 film long criticized for its stereotypical depiction of Indigenous people, and "The Aristocats," a 1970 production which features a Siamese cat playing piano with chopsticks.The warning on Disney Plus reads: "This program is presented as originally created. It may contain outdated cultural depictions."Disney doesn't outline how each film might be considered insensitive by today's standards beyond its single-sentence notice.Other titles which carry the alert include "The Jungle Book," the 1940 version of "Swiss Family Robinson" and the studio's early Silly Symphony animated shorts, some which feature Mickey Mouse.Disney Plus is also including warnings about tobacco use in "Pinocchio," "Aladdin" and other films.Before the streaming service launched, Disney was faced with how to present nearly a century of family entertainment history, while also recognizing that many parents don't want their young children to encounter racist depictions or culturally insensitive films without context.Early reports suggested the studio would remove a scene of crows from "Dumbo," which features a bird named Jim Crow, but on Disney Plus the scene remains as it was originally released, with the additional warning.At least one of Disney's other classic titles, which includes smoking, has gone unaltered on the streaming platform.The 1948 film "Melody Time" came under scrutiny in the late 1990s when Disney digitally removed a cigarette from Pecos Bill's mouth for the DVD release. The streaming version keeps the original cigarette intact, but strangely doesn't include a tobacco warning.But Disney's decision to forgo warnings on its more contemporary films may raise a few eyebrows.For instance, 1992's "Aladdin" carries a tobacco warning, but doesn't note any issues with the "cultural depictions," though some critics have noted the film mainly uses Arabic accents on the key villains, but American accents on the lead heroes."Pocahontas," a 1995 film deemed historically inaccurate and rife with troubling Indigenous stereotypes, also doesn't carry any warnings.In the past, Disney took a different route by burying one of its most problematic titles "Song of the South." The 1946 musical is best known for the song "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah," but also what many critics consider a minstrelsy portrayal of post-Civil War plantation workers.Disney Plus hasn't made "Song of the South" available, and the film has largely been out of circulation for decades.For its newest films, Disney Plus is reworking some of its classic scripts with cultural sensitivity in mind.A live-action remake of "Lady and the Tramp" substitutes the animated version's two villainous Siamese cats with a new set of tabby cats and a different musical number.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 13, 2019.Follow @dfriend on Twitter.David Friend, The Canadian Press

  • 'Glass' is No. 1 again, McConaughey's 'Serenity' flops
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    Associated Press

    'Glass' is No. 1 again, McConaughey's 'Serenity' flops

    NEW YORK (AP) — Matthew McConaughey notched one of the worst debuts of his career, Oscar nominees saw only modest bumps and M. Night Shyamalan's "Glass" easily remained No. 1 on a quiet weekend in movie theaters.

  • Rami Malek Responds to Allegations Against Bryan Singer, Saying He Was Not 'Aware' of Them
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    W

    Rami Malek Responds to Allegations Against Bryan Singer, Saying He Was Not 'Aware' of Them

    When asked point-blank if he regretted working with Singer, Rami Malek said that he "was not aware" of the allegations against Singer.