By Armando

Focus Features

“You can sew almost anything into the canvas of a coat. When I was a boy, I started to hide things in the lining of the garments. Things that only I knew were there. Secrets,” says Day-Lewis’ Reynolds Woodcock, a renowned 1950s dressmaker whose life unraveled after a young woman, Vicky Krieps walks into his life and becomes his muse and obsession.

A few months ago, Day-Lewis announced his retirement from acting following Phantom Thread. The actor did not provide a reason for his retirement but is expected to fulfill publicity tasks for the Phantom Thread.

Anderson and Day-Lewis previously collaborated together ten years ago in ‘There Will Be Blood,’ for which the actor won an academy award best actor. The acclaimed actor also won the same award for his performances in My Left Foot (1989) and Lincoln (2012).

Another win for the celebrated thespian and he will share the record with Katharine Hepburn as the actor with the most Oscar wins, a fitting achievement for one of most acclaimed actors of our generation.

Extremely protective of his privacy, Day-Lewis previously vanished into semi-retirement in 1997 following Jim Sheridan’s The Boxer and moved to Florence, Italy. He then appeared in five more films (excluding “Phantom Thread”.) Now 60 years old, there is definite reason to take the actor’s announced retirement seriously. All good things must come to an end.

Here’s the film’s official synopsis:

Set in the glamour of 1950’s post-war London, renowned dressmaker Reynolds Woodcock (Daniel Day-Lewis) and his sister Cyril (Lesley Manville) are at the center of British fashion, dressing royalty, movie stars, heiresses, socialites, debutants and dames with the distinct style of The House of Woodcock. Women come and go through Woodcock’s life, providing the confirmed bachelor with inspiration and companionship, until he comes across a young, strong-willed woman, Alma (Vicky Krieps), who soon becomes a fixture in his life as his muse and lover. Once controlled and planned, he finds his carefully tailored life disrupted by love. With his latest film, Paul Thomas Anderson paints an illuminating portrait both of an artist on a creative journey, and the women who keep his world running. Phantom Thread is Paul Thomas Anderson’s eighth movie, and his second collaboration with Daniel Day-Lewis.

‘Phantom Thread’ is set to be released on December 25, 2017

By Creative Media Times

Neon

“America, they want someone to love, but they want someone to hate,” says Margot’s character. “And the haters always say ‘Tonya, tell the truth.’ There’s no such thing as truth. I mean it’s bullshit.”

The film is based on the sensational story of Tonya Harding and husband Jeff Gilooly (Sebastian Stan), who in 1994 orchestrated an attack against Harding’s competitor Nancy Kerrigan and break her right leg in order to prevent her from competing at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer. Though her leg was not broken, it was soon found out that Gilloly, along with bodyguard Shawn Eckhardt (Paul Walter Hauser) hired an assailant, though Gilloly shifted blame to Harding.

I, Tonya recently had a surprisingly play at Toronto International Film Festival in September, where it won second runner up for People’s Choice Award, and successfully starts the awards season with Gotham Awards nominations for the film and star Margot Robbie.

Directed by Craig Gillespie (Lars and the Real Girl) and written by Steven Rogers (Stepmom), the film also stars Allison Janney, Paul Walter Hauser, Julianne Nicholson, Caitlin Carver, Bojana Novakovic and Bobby Cannavale.

‘I, Tonya’ is set for release on December 8, 2017.

Here is the film’s official synopsis:

Based on the unbelievable but true events, I, TONYA is a darkly comedic tale of American figure skater, Tonya Harding, and one of the most sensational scandals in sports history. Though Harding was the first American woman to complete a triple axel in competition, her legacy was forever defined by her association with an infamous, ill-conceived, and even more poorly executed attack on fellow Olympic competitor Nancy Kerrigan. Featuring an iconic turn by Margot Robbie as the fiery Harding, a mustachioed Sebastian Stan as her impetuous ex-husband Jeff Gillooly, a tour-de-force performance from Allison Janney as her acid-tongued mother, LaVona Golden, and an original screenplay by Steven Rogers, Craig Gillespie’s I, TONYA is an absurd, irreverent, and piercing portrayal of Harding’s life and career in all of its unchecked––and checkered––glory.

By Creative Media Times

Universal Pictures

The trailer introduces us to John Boyega’s Jake Pentecost, the son of Stacker Pentecost (Idris Elba) who sacrificed himself in the original 2013 Guillermo del Toro film. There is also franchise newcomer Scott Eastwood as Jaeger pilot Lambert, Pacific Rim alums Charlie Day, Burn Gorman and a glimpse of Rinko Kikuchi’s Mako Mori.

Directed by Steven S. DeKnight, the trailer certainly have that same spectacle seen on his TV work on Starz series Spartacus, fully aware of robot vs. monster appeal but a tad less serious than the original. Director Guillermo del Toro is credited for the story.

Pacific Rim: Uprising is scheduled to stomp into theaters on March 23, 2018.

Here’s the film’s official synopsis:

The globe-spanning conflict between otherworldly monsters of mass destruction and the human-piloted super-machines built to vanquish them was only a prelude to the all-out assault on humanity in Pacific Rim Uprising.

John Boyega (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) stars as the rebellious Jake Pentecost, a once-promising Jaeger pilot whose legendary father gave his life to secure humanity’s victory against the monstrous “Kaiju.” Jake has since abandoned his training only to become caught up in a criminal underworld. But when an even more unstoppable threat is unleashed to tear through our cities and bring the world to its knees, he is given one last chance to live up to his father’s legacy by his estranged sister, Mako Mori (Rinko Kikuchi)—who is leading a brave new generation of pilots that have grown up in the shadow of war. As they seek justice for the fallen, their only hope is to unite together in a global uprising against the forces of extinction.

To read full synopsis, visit Pacific Rim Uprising’s website

By Creative Media Times

The director is back in another potential awards magnet “Wonder Wheel”, this time with Kate Winslet and Justin Timberlake. Amazon Studios has released the first trailer for the film, ahead of it’s closing night premiere at 55th New York Film Festival on October 14, 2017. Jim Belushi, Juno Temple co-star in the drama film set in late 1950s against the backdrop of 1950s Coney Island.

Allen also wrote the original script while Oscar-winning cinematographer Vittorio Storaro (Apocalypse Now) shot the film. Vittorio recently collaborated with Allen on 2016’s Cafe Society.

The trailer looks picturesque with beautiful shots of fluorishing Coney Island beaches and amusement park. It has Allen’s touch of old Hollywood vibe as it follows waitress Ginny (Wislet), her temperamental carousel operator husband Humpty (Belushi), a young aspring playwrite/lifeguard Mickey (Timberlake) and his estranged daughter Carolina (Temple) who is on the run from the mob.

The film will go into limited release December 1, marking the online retail giant’s first solo venture into self-distribution, seemingly moving closer into establishing itself a major film studio.

Here’s the film’s official synopsis:

WONDER WHEEL tells the story of four characters whose lives intertwine amid the hustle and bustle of the Coney Island amusement park in the 1950s: Ginny (Kate Winslet), an emotionally volatile former actress now working as a waitress in a clam house; Humpty (Jim Belushi), Ginny’s rough-hewn carousel operator husband; Mickey (Justin Timberlake), a handsome young lifeguard who dreams of becoming a playwright; and Carolina (Juno Temple), Humpty’s long-estranged daughter, who is now hiding out from gangsters at her father’s apartment. Cinematographer Vittorio Storaro captures a tale of passion, violence, and betrayal that plays out against the picturesque tableau of 1950s Coney Island.

By Armando

Focus Features

The latest trailer for the historical war drama “Darkest Hour” has been released and it’s stunning (see below). Focus Features also released a new poster with the tagline “A Man With The Heart Of A Nation” (right).

Gary Oldman is literally unrecognizable, looking the spitting image of the larger-than-life British Prime Minister Winston Churchill who defied Hitler and rallied England during the darkest moments of World War II.

The masterful veteran actor, who has been strangely ignored by the Academy multiple times in the past has never won for an acting Oscar award. But he looks sensational here, and may have found the role of his illustrious career.

Oldman is gaining some of the best acclaim in his career for this portrayal after a standout play at Telluride Film Festival early this month, putting the actor in strong contention for the awards season. Darkest Hour will also be screening at Austin Film Festival.

The trailer is intense, with the track accompanied by ticking clock and war sirens in the background, capturing that dark and unpredictable period of a looming Nazi invasion.

“Darkest Hour” is the second film this year to chronicle events of wartime Dunkirk. But while Christopher Nolan’s eponymous blockbuster immersed viewers into the horrors at ground zero, Darkest Hour focus on its repercussions on other side of the Channel. They may in fact work as companion pieces or a great double feature watch.

Directed by Joe Wright (Atonement), and written by Anthony McCarten (The Theory of Everything), Darkest Hour follows Winston Churchill’s early days as British Prime Minister while Hitler closes in on Britain in World War II. Oldman is joined by a sterling cast including Ben Mendelsohn as King George VI, Kristin Scott Thomas as Churchill’s wife Clementine, Ronald Pickup as Neville Chamberlain, Stephen Dillane as Foreign Secretary Lord Halifax, and Lily James as personal secretary of Churchill Elizabeth Nel.

Focus Features is set to release Darkest Hour on November 22 in select cities.