Britt Hayes is a writer, movie lover, and sensible sweater enthusiast living in Austin, Texas. She watches too much TV and never eats her vegetables.
Britt Hayes
SNL Ranked: Julia Louis-Dreyfus Deserves Better Material, Yada Yada Yada
It’s been six years since Julia Louis-Dreyfus hosted SNL, but with her hilariously irreverent HBO series Veep entering its fifth season, it’s about time for the former cast member / Seinfeld star to make her return. After poking fun at her forgettable SNL tenure in the monologue, it’s unfortunate to see Louis-Dreyfus given so many forgettable characters in sketches that are mostly vanilla and that feel written for a target demographic made up entirely of suburban women with Activia dependencies. That said, the usual wacky antics of the last 15 minutes combined with the undeniable greatness of Louis-Dreyfus and the occasional moment of hilarity save this episode, taking it from a four up to a solid six.
‘Pete’s Dragon’ Reveals First Look Pete’s Imaginary Dragon Friend
The first poster merely hinted at the titular star of Pete’s Dragon (no, not Pete – the other thing), shown bashfully hiding behind a tree. The first trailer for the upcoming remake from director David Lowery similarly exercised some restraint in showing the friendly dragon, with Disney presumably hoping to hold back on the reveal for a little while longer. The time has officially come for our first look at the dragon of Pete’s Dragon, whose name is Elliott, by the way.
Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart Might Make You Want to See That ‘Jumanji’ Remake
First announced last year, the remake / reboot of Jumanji based on the classic book-turned-adventure film starring Robin Williams seemed like a baffling idea. What could possibly make the average movie-goer excited about this remake? A great cast, for starters, and it looks like we might get just that as everyone’s new favorite odd comedic coupling are in talks to star in the new Jumanji movie.
Benedict Cumberbatch to Voice the Grinch in ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas’
Yes, we’re getting another adaptation of Dr. Seuss’ holiday classic How the Grinch Stole Christmas, but like the better of the two previous versions, this one will be animated, the way the good cinema lords intended. And in another bit of optimistic news, Benedict Cumberbatch will lend his voice to the title character, a greedy, mean old grinch who has a very valuable lesson to learn about Christmas spirit.
Disney Adds ‘Peter Pan’ to Its Pile of Live-Action Remakes With ‘Pete’s Dragon’ Director
Surprise! (Not really.) Disney is developing yet another live-action remake of one of their classic animated properties, this time setting their sights on Peter Pan — which sort of feels like a real shots-fired situation following the failure of Joe Wright’s Pan over at Warner Bros. David Lowery, who recently helmed the Pete’s Dragon remake for Disney, has been tapped to direct and script a new live-action Peter Pan movie.
Warner Bros. Confirms Ben Affleck’s Solo Batman Movie to the Surprise of No One
When Ben Affleck took the stage at Comic-Con last year to promote Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, it was a mere matter of minutes before rumors began circulating that Warner Bros. was planning a new solo Batman film with Affleck set to star — and possibly direct. DC’s Geoff Johns confirmed that he was working on a script with Affleck, and since then the news has basically been repeatedly confirmed via interviews with Zack Snyder, Johns and Affleck. And now WB has gone and made it officially official by announcing that a standalone Batman film is in development with Affleck. But we already knew that.
‘A Monster Calls’ Trailer: Liam Neeson Is a Big Friendly Giant Tree Monster
We’re getting two fantasy films about little kids and their giant friendly monster pals this year: Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The BFG, starring Mark Rylance as the titular giant, and Juan Antonio Bayona’s A Monster Calls, starring Liam Neeson as the eponymous monster (who is also a very old tree). A new trailer has arrived for the latter, promising a beautiful, melancholy adventure that could very well give Spielberg’s film a run for its money — and that’s no easy feat.
Disney Is Already Planning ‘The Jungle Book 2’ With Jon Favreau in Talks to Return
Disney must feel pretty confident about The Jungle Book — Jon Favreau’s live-action / CGI retelling hits theaters on April 15, but early word-of-mouth is largely positive. And given Disney’s recent proven track record with live-action remakes of their popular classics, it sure does seem like The Jungle Book is on track to perform well at the box office. Just how well remains to be seen, but the studio is already developing a sequel with Favreau in talks to return.
‘Tomb Raider’ Reboot Rumored as Warner Bros. 2017 Mystery Film
Last week was a pretty busy one over at Warner Bros. — following the underwhelming box office and reactions to Batman v Superman, the studio is reportedly doubling down on its established blockbuster franchises and scaling back on the number of films released each year. They also set release dates for a few untitled projects, with many speculating that at least one of them is Ben Affleck’s solo Batman film. According to a new rumor, we may know what one of the other films could be.
‘Transformers 5’ Hires ‘John Wick’ Cinematographer, Will Probably Look Great
Well, if nothing else, at least we now know Transformers 5 will look really, really good. John Wick cinematographer John Sela has been hired to shoot Michael Bay’s upcoming mega-robot blockbuster sequel — unfortunately for us (but fortunately for him), Keanu Reeves will not be making an appearance, but rest assured that he will be with Michael Bay in spirit, hopefully using his unique brand of zen to guide Bay through this difficult process
‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Tops 2016 MTV Movie Awards Winners
Although the 2016 MTV Movie Awards won’t air until tonight, the awards actually took place on Saturday night, April 9, and we have the full list of nominees and winners — you know, just in case you’re feeling particularly antsy or won’t be around to watch the awards because you have actual plans (like watching Vinyl, or something). Unsurprisingly, Star Wars: The Force Awakens was (or is?) the big winner of this year’s awards, but Deadpool also pulled in a couple of golden popcorn trophies.
‘Captain America: Civil War’ Early Reactions Are Very Positive, But You Knew That
Even the films that are considered “lesser” in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (Thor, Ant-Man) still tend to generate some positive buzz, though most fans would agree that the Captain America films are superior — and Winter Soldier is almost unanimously revered as the best of the bunch. So it’s not quite surprising that early word on Civil War is good, but the reactions so far are overwhelmingly positive, especially when it comes to that new Spider-Man.