Latest news with #RealityBites
The Hindu
22-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Watch: Dhanush's ‘Kuberaa' vs Aamir Khan's ‘Sitaare Zameen Par'
Why is your life not a romantic comedy but an arthouse bummer? Why are you stuck in a trope — a misfit in a world written by bad writers? This week on FOMO Fix, we break down two big releases that promise underdog wins but serve mid: Dhanush's Kubera vs Aamir Khan's Sitaare Zameen Par on Hype Check. Materialists: Romance meets bank balance and why you should watch Ben Stiller's Reality Bites instead. Devil's Double: Next Level: Kill the star, save the franchise Subham: Granny horror meets soap opera addiction Watch till the end to find out which meta-movie is worth your weekend — and which trope to avoid like a PSA disguised as a plot. Music: Ivan Avakian
The Hindu
20-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Planning to watch Materialists, Subham or Devil's Double: Next Level? Read this
Why is your life a never-ending soap? Why is it not a romantic comedy but a depressing art house film? Why are you trapped in a trope — are you even real, or fiction by some bad writer scribbling with crayons and his tongue out? Celine Song's Materialists is a romantic comedy set in the reality check of your bank balance, what you can afford, and what you can deliver. Samantha Prabhu's debut production Subham is about a neighbourhood haunted by dead grannies who possess new brides to resume their soap binge, their souls still awaiting closure and an ending before they can rest in peace. And Devil's Double: Next Level, where a YouTuber finds himself trapped in a horror movie he must survive and outsmart with all the clichés he knows about the genre. What a week for meta storytelling! Love in times of uncertainty Materialists is understandably getting mixed, polarising reactions from the audience — so real and savage it slaps the romance out of our senses before offering a warm shoulder. My editor was irritated by the script, which she declared too sappy and stereotypical for this age of cynicism where bank balances trump moody romance. But, isn't the fantasy the reason we go to the movies? Yes — except this very story has been done before, and better. By a 22-year-old screenwriter named Helen Childress, whose script Reality Bites convinced her friend Winona Ryder to hire her friends — two guys named Ben Stiller and Ethan Hawke — to direct and act in the movie. Thirty years later, it still holds up — and how! As a sharper articulation of the ideas behind Materialists, with tighter writing filled with genuine ache and longing in 'the winter of our discontent', Ethan Hawke channelling Jesse even before he became the Jesse from Linklater's Before trilogy. Materialists does have its merits. The cast is easy on the eyes: Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans, Pedro Pascal. Occasionally, there's a good line: 'When you are lost, just go where love is.' Cute. But try topping this one from Reality Bites: 'All I want is a couch, a couple smokes, a cup of coffee, and a little bit of conversation. You and me and five bucks.' So here's the math: Reality Bites: 100 > Materialists: 1 Ghost stories Santhanam's follow-up to DD Returns, Devil's Double: Next Level (streaming on Zee5), has such a fun premise. YouTube film critics are targeted by the ghost of a dead producer in a movie hall that traps them in a film. Though full of potential jokes, the movie settles for the bare minimum. Yet, it cracks you up every now and then, saving the punchline for the end. How do you get out of a bad franchise? Don't kill the villain. Kill the hero. Kill the star. Five stars for the messaging, three for the movie. In Subham, the laughs come from men trying to shoot an alternate version of the never-ending soap — one with an ending that can finally provide closure to the dead grannies who've possessed their brides to catch up on their favourite show. While figuring out what ending would make them happy, the men also become better humans. The film is less of a horror flick and more of a smart ode to the power of movies — like Be Kind, Rewind, where the guys running the video store shoot their own versions of their favourite films. Subham is now streaming on Disney. Getting lost in the movies could be a holiday, a getaway vacation or a nightmare. Choose wisely. From the hottest shows to hidden gems, overlooked classics to guilty pleasures, FOMO Fix is a fortnightly compass through the chaos of content. Expect timely recommendations, spoiler-free insights, and an honest heads-up on what to not miss.
Yahoo
22-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Edward Burns: ‘In This Day and Age, If You Can Get a Movie Made, That's a Success'
Thirty years ago, writer and director Edward Burns' 'The Brothers McMullen' was one of several films — alongside Cameron Crowe's 'Singles,' Ben Stiller's 'Reality Bites,' and Nicole Holofcener's 'Walking and Talking,' among many others — that spoke directly to the emotional issues and social anxieties of Generation X. After Burns, now in his fifties, became an empty nester and started to think about how that changed his identity and his marriage — and those of his friends in the same age group — he realized there was fertile ground for a new drama that would address this new stage of life for Generation X-ers the way that 'McMullen' had represented the 1990s. 'There were a lot of conversations in my group of friends asking, 'What does tomorrow look like now that you don't define yourself as a parent and you're not actively parenting anymore?,' Burns told IndieWire. 'How do you define the marriage?' As Burns and his friends talked about their experiences the filmmaker realized there was a wealth of material in these topics, as well as the regrets and resentments some parents had over their partners getting to pursue their careers while they stayed home with the kids — not to mention the question of whether or not there comes a time when an artist can become creatively tapped out, with nothing left to say. More from IndieWire Here's Who Will Win at the 2025 Film Independent Spirit Awards Hunter Schafer Says Trump Policy Changed Gender on Her Passport: 'I'm Never Going to Stop Being Trans' The result of Burns' probing was 'Millers in Marriage,' a funny and insightful ensemble piece that ranks among the director's best work. The movie follows three middle-aged couples (Campbell Scott & Julianna Margulies, Gretchen Mol & Patrick Wilson, and Burns & Minnie Driver) as they navigate a number of professional and personal issues ranging from writer's block to extramarital affairs and the pleasures and challenges of starting up a new romance at 50. The economy of Burns' writing enables him to jam his two-hour running time with a novel's worth of provocative ideas and powerful emotional effects, as he explores a broad and deep assortment of themes with both compassion and a sly sense of satire. For cinephiles of a certain age, the movie has additional resonance thanks to the subtext that runs underneath the various plot lines related to artists whose relationship to their art has changed. That subtext is the unspoken but clear premise that the whole movie is, in a way, a metaphor for the world of independent filmmaking — for the promise and excitement it had in its youth and the questions about how it has changed and what it all means. The parallels were obvious to Burns and his cast even while shooting. 'It's funny, [the actors] and I all had a kind of coming out moment in the '90s,' Burns said. 'The whole cast is obviously still working 30 years later, but that was another thing worth exploring — trying to grind out a career if you don't stay at the tippy-top. If you still have the fire and something to say, can you reach an audience? Does the audience care?' For Burns, the changing realities of the film business — a business that saw movies like 'McMullen' and its ilk get major theatrical releases 30 years ago — have meant lowering his overhead and managing expectations so that he can simply get his films made and released without worrying about attracting a mass audience. 'About 10 years ago, we had a film called 'Fitzgerald Family Christmas,'' Burns said. 'We premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and got great reviews, but the next day when we got on the plane back to New York, nothing had changed. It was basically a small movie that would reach a small audience, and that would be its life. From that point my producing partner Aaron Rubin and I made a commitment to reimagine how to define success moving forward.' Viewing the film festival circuit as his theatrical release and letting his films build their audiences on streaming and cable has worked for Burns, slowly but surely. 'These films find audiences eventually,' Burns said, adding that he makes his films for low enough budgets to make sure they will always at least break even. 'In this day and age, if you can get a movie made, that's a success. It you can get final cut, that's another success. If we have a good time making the movie and we get to travel around the world to film festivals and see the movie play in some of the best theaters in every country, that's a success.' While Burns may keep his budgets low and his schedules tight ('Millers in Marriage' was shot in a brisk 20 days) he knows how to maximize his resources by focusing on the things that don't necessarily cost money — not just solid writing and acting, but a precise visual language that allows him to realize the fullest expressive potential in each frame. Throughout 'Millers' Burns subtly reinforces and deepens the relationships through blocking, editing, and camera movements that are most likely imperceptible to the audience on a conscious level but add force and depth to the emotional content of each scene. 'We wanted to show the disconnect between Patrick Wilson and Gretchen Mol,' Burns said, 'so if you look at the film closely, they're never in the same frame together. With Julianna Margulies and Campbell Scott, we played with the idea that Campbell was always in the background of her shots, sometimes in soft focus or with his head cut off to put him in a secondary position when she's in the foreground. We also played with the color red with Gretchen; both her and Patrick are wearing black and white for the whole film, but she'll have these shocks of red to indicate the passion and volatility underneath.' What makes 'Millers in Marriage' particularly impressive is its ability to honor all of its characters' perspectives, even though their points of view are often at odds. The editing is key, as Burns and longtime editor Janet Gaynor skillfully choose when to reveal each piece of information so that it shifts the audience's perception in productive ways; this is especially important in terms of the placement of the film's many flashbacks, which Burns says inspired a fair amount of experimentation on his and Gaynor's part. 'There was one we wrestled with for a long time,' Burns said of a flashback revealing that his character's soon to be ex-wife wanted kids and he didn't. Up to the point when the audience sees that flashback the ex comes across fairly unsympathetically, which made the choice of when to reveal her desire to have children extremely important — and extremely challenging. 'We established that she's 42, so there's still time to have a kid, and if he doesn't want a kid then doesn't she have every right to say, 'I want out of this marriage?' In each dynamic we tried to have scenes where the other partner had a winning argument.' Now that 'Millers in Marriage' is finished and opening worldwide, Burns is on to the next project — 'The Family McMullen,' the sequel to his breakthrough debut. 'It's me and Connie Britton and Mike McGlone,' Burns said. 'It's the two brothers and the sister-in-law. I had to figure out a way to give Connie a primary role, and sadly for Jack Mulcahy the easiest way was to kill his character off. We start shooting April 1 in Brooklyn and New Jersey. It's exciting.' 'Millers in Marriage' opens in select theaters and is available digitally on Friday, February 21. Best of IndieWire The 15 Best Thrillers Streaming on Netflix in January, from 'Fair Play' to 'Emily the Criminal' The 25 Best Sci-Fi TV Series of the 21st Century, Ranked The Best Modern Westerns, from 'The Power of the Dog' to 'Killers of the Flower Moon' to 'The Hateful Eight'
Fox News
10-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Fox News
Ben Stiller knew he had to quit 'Saturday Night Live' after four episodes
Ben Stiller knew he had to walk away from "Saturday Night Live" after just four episodes. "I just knew that I wasn't a great live performer," the comedian told The Hollywood Reporter. "It got me nervous," he explained. "I get stressed out even thinking about it, and making movies is the opposite of that. You get to do it over and over again." Bob Odenkirk, who also worked on the variety show at the time, thought this move was unthinkable. "He was ballsy as h--- to walk away from 'SNL' and to be able to say with confidence about himself and his career, 'This isn't going to work for me. I have to leave here,'" Odenkirk told the outlet. After quitting "Saturday Night Live," Stiller was given the opportunity to continue sketch comedy – just not live. "The Ben Stiller Show" first aired on MTV and later on Fox. Afterward, he landed roles in "Reality Bites," "Heavyweights" and Jim Carrey's "The Cable Guy." Stiller's big break came with a role in "There's Something About Mary." Since then, the actor has starred in huge productions, including "Meet the Parents," "Zoolander," "Along Came Polly," "Starsky & Hutch," "Night at the Museum" and "Tropic Thunder." Stiller's acting career didn't sway his kids' interest in the industry. His children, shared with actress Christine Taylor, want to be actors. Ella and Quinlin both had minor voice roles in "Madagascar." "I feel probably what my parents felt," Stiller told The Hollywood Reporter regarding his children's interest in show business. "I recognize their talent and their desire to do it, and I support it a hundred percent. And I also know it's a tough business, and as a protective parent, you don't want your kids to have to suffer the slings and arrows." "I'm glad that for all of the things that I did wrong as a parent or being too caught up in my work, it's not like they were like, 'I don't want anything to do with this,'" he added. Stiller has actually been finishing up a project featuring his own parents. The "Severance" producer was raised by Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, two actors in their own right. Stiller lost Anne in 2015 and Jerry passed away in 2020. "I'm thinking I'm going to miss working on it," Stiller said of the documentary. "I have an excuse to just sit and watch my parents all day." As for what's next, he's not quite sure. "It'd be fun to work on a story that's just like two hours," he said.
