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August 18 - August 25

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Apple TV+ announced the title of its highly anticipated sci-fi drama based on Legendary’s Monsterverse as “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters,” and unveiled the first images from the 10-episode series starring Kurt Russell, Wyatt Russell, Anna Sawai, Kiersey Clemons, Ren Watabe, Mari Yamamoto, Anders Holm, Joe Tippett and Elisa Lasowski...

In a vintage interview with François-Régis Bastide, director Robert Bresson expressed his fondness for eschewing non-diegetic music whenever possible in his movies. Bresson found it strange to watch movies where "we’re in the middle of the countryside" yet there is a booming orchestra on the soundtrack. Later on in the same interview, Bastide refers to an earlier quote from Bresson where he complained that “the number of films that are patched up with music! People flood a film with music. They are preventing us from seeing that there is nothing in those image.” For this iconic filmmaker (whose only rivaled by the likes of Jean-Luc Godard and Agnes Varda in terms of notable French auteurs), cinema is a visual medium first and foremost. Images must carry the day, not music. The priorities of this artist are laid bare in these comments for all to see and come to life throughout his filmography, most exquisitely in his masterpiece, Mouchette. (Courtesy Lisa Laman)...

Typecasting is something that many actors have to deal with. Once they find a level of success in a certain place, it’s far from uncommon for similar roles to become the only thing they get offered. It tends to be even worse for actors of color, but Kumail Nanjiani is one who has found a certain amount of success keeping himself out of only playing one sort of role, in part because he specifically goes looking for jobs that he would find difficult. “It’s very easy in this industry to get put into a box. Obviously, if you’re not white, you get put into a box, but also it’s an industry that likes to classify [all] performers. This person can play a nerd. This person can play an action star. It’s allergic to taking risks and having true imagination and vision when it comes to casting. So it is challenging..My priority has been to do different types of things and stuff that is difficult for me because I find that more satisfying. I always want to take on a job that allows me to go at least 10% further than I’ve ever gone before. I want to read a script and say, 'I don’t exactly know how I’m going to do this, but I want to figure it out.’ Figuring it out is the fun part.”...

A large majority of Americans support the writers and actors strikes, and a plurality hold an unfavorable view of the Hollywood studios, according to a new poll by Data for Progress. The poll found 67% support among likely voters for the strikes by the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA, while just 18% oppose them. The poll also found that 48% have an unfavorable view of the major studios, and just 31% support the studios. The survey also found that 60% of respondents subscribe to Netflix, 41% subscribe to Hulu, and 35% subscribe to Disney+. The firm also asked strike supporters if delays in their favorite movies and TV shows would cause them to change their minds. The survey found that 86% would continue to support the strikes, while 10% would oppose them...

The Writers Guild of America issued a report on Thursday calling Netflix, Amazon and Disney the “new gatekeepers” of the media business, and calling for antitrust regulators to prevent consolidation in the streaming marketplace. The report argues that Netflix, Amazon and Disney have amassed collective market power that has driven down wages and limited viewer choice. The guild also argues that the companies have shown they will “abuse a position of dominance” to harm their competitors and that further consolidation will result in fewer writers able to make a living. “Any mergers in media and entertainment involving significant streaming players should be blocked, including acquisitions of smaller or potential competitors,” the union argues...

The box office in mainland China reached an all-time high in the summer season, according to figures from ticketing agency Maoyan Entertainment. The record was achieved with minimal input from Hollywood. Maoyan, which defines China’s cinematic summer as running from the beginning of June to the end of August, says that the previous record of RMB17.8 billion, set in 2018, was beaten on Thursday evening (local time) – some two weeks before the end of the current season...

Movie distributors headed to this year’s fall film festivals hoping to buy select star-studded indie films must be prepared to agree to new contract terms from SAG-AFTRA, the union’s chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said Tuesday. During a broad press conference on the topic of SAG-AFTRA’s interim agreements program — under which some movies and TV projects can shoot or engage in publicity during the ongoing strike — Crabtree-Ireland confirmed what many in the indie film world have been sweating over for weeks. If a film has received a SAG-AFTRA interim agreement, any potential buyer must agree to the union’s proposed new deal. This includes a chunk of streaming revenue for actors. Parties on all sides of the labor strike fear this will deter buyers from acquiring these movies, especially the big-spending streamers...

“Barbie” brought sporadic moviegoers back to theaters in a big way, a new survey from film tracking service The Quorum found. Quorum surveyed 1,800 “Barbie” ticket buyers in the U.S. over the past three weeks, finding that 11% “couldn’t remember the last film they had seen in a theater.” Another 11% said “Barbie” was the first film they had seen in a theater since the pandemic started in 2020. That means that 22%, or close to a quarter of moviegoers surveyed, most likely had skipped “Avatar: The Way of Water” and “Top Gun: Maverick,” among other popular post-pandemic theatrical releases, but were enticed by buzz and marketing blitz of the pink phenomenon. The Quorum, which provides surveys on prospective filmgoers’ interest in upcoming films, estimated that 22% of total ticketbuyers would total around 9 million people who set foot in a multiplex for “Barbie,” and “Barbie” only...