Film News

Can Zack Snyder's "Rebel Moon" Compete With Star Wars?

The Army of the Dead director wants to kick off a major franchise with his grown-up Star Wars pitch.

Zack Snyder, Deborah Snyder at the "300: Rise Of An Empire" Premiere

By Kathy Hutchins (Shutterstock)

2021 Has been a big year for Zack Snyder.

The "Snyder Cut" of 2017's Justice League finally hit HBO Max in March — in four hours of gloriously washed out, letterboxed 4:3 aspect ratio — and was widely praised as a substantial improvement over Joss Whedon's butchered and stitched together theatrical release. Then, in May, his zombie-heist movie Army of the Dead arrived on Netflix and quickly became one of the platform's most-watched movies of all time.

But now the Watchmen director has his sights set on an even loftier goal: Zack Snyder wants to be the next George Lucas.

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Film Lists

10 Best Female Characters in the MCU

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has not always done justice to women, but recent years have given us some iconic female characters

Marvel Cinematic Universe

via Marvel

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has not always been kind to women.

The franchise initially focused pretty exclusively on white men and garnered so much success doing so that their argument for not featuring marginalized groups in more prominent ways was their fear of compromising their fanbase.

However, over the past few years, fans and actors have successfully advocated for films that focus on heroes from marginalized communities and feature them in more prominent, complex roles.

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FX Productions

A lot of filmmakers keep themselves apart from their work.

You can watch all of their films, learn to recognize their style and vision, and still be left with the mystery of who their creator is. That's not the case with New Zealand filmmaker Taika Waititi.

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Taika Waititi Will Be Directing The New "Star Wars" Film, Which Expands The Universe

In February New Zealand writer-director-actor Taika Waititi was awarded an Oscar for the screenplay of his film Jojo Rabbit.

On May the 4th—the holiest of Star Wars holidays (Revenge of the 5th is sacrilege)—it was announced that he'd received what might be an even bigger honor: He's going to co-write and direct a new Star Wars movie.

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Augustus Gloop

Taika Waititi is one of the most creative, talented directors currently working in Hollywood, and Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is one of the most beloved children's books of all time.

So naturally, Taika Waititi helming two animated Charlie and the Chocolate Factoryseries for Netflix should be a match made in heaven, right? Well, maybe we should slow down a bit first.

On one hand, Taika Waititi has proven himself as a genuine auteur, capable of stamping his signature shade of irreverence on everything from original indie comedies like Hunt for the Wilderpeople to blockbuster Marvel films like Thor: Ragnorok to book adaptations like JoJo Rabbit. But here's the problem: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory already has a definitive adaptation––Tim Burton's 2005 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory starring Johnny Depp.

There's no doubt that whatever Waititi chooses to do with the franchise will be fun, imaginative, and patently him. The issue is that, no matter how good it is, it can never live up to the best possible version of the story, which features traditionally handsome actor Johnny Depp wearing very white makeup and pretending to be a germaphobe. Undoubtedly, no actor could possibly step into Willy Wonka's shoes with the same gravitas as Depp. (In fact, Hollywood rumor has it that some former actor who played Willy Wonka in an older adaptation quit the industry after seeing Depp's performance and realizing that his own paled in comparison).

Perhaps best known for turning Dahl's book into a fantastical musical, Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory features a slew of memorable songs that have stuck with viewers for an entire generation. As each of the rotten children fall victim to their own character flaws during the tour of Willy Wonka's chocolate factory, the Oompa-Loompa songs serve as eulogies, instilling viewers with morality lessons that they can carry with them through their life journey.

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If you watched that video closely, you might notice one of the boldest directorial choices that Burton made for his film: All of the Oompa-Loompas are played by the same person! Through the use of flawless digital effects and split screen photography, Burton was able to capture actor Deep Roy performing the roles of dozens of little orange men. And while Roy may not have won the Oscar he deserved for such a diverse array of character work, at least he gets bragging rights for being in the greatest Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movie ever made.

Unfortunately for Taika Waititi and Netflix, no amount of talent can surmount the sheer impossibility of conquering an everlasting classic. The truth that Hollywood still fails to realize is that sometimes there's an artwork so stupendous, so memorable, and so definitive that it really doesn't need to ever be rebooted. Even if Waititi creates an adaptation that feels surprising and original, people will still say, "Yeah, that's okay, but is it as good as the 2005 Tim Burton version?" Tim Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory had it all––the songs, the sense of wonder, Johnny Deep feigning mental issues. Waititi is welcome to reach for the stars, but he might just miss and find himself falling into a chocolate river.

CULTURE

Werner Herzog's Interview in "Variety" Is a Sapiosexual Wet Dream

Werner Herzog is our philosopher of the end times.

Werner Herzog

Photo by Enric Fontcuberta (EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)

If you've never seen Werner Herzog's 2005 documentary Grizzly Man, allow us to tease it for you:

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