Tom Hanks admits The Da Vinci Code was a bunch of “hooey”; Jennifer Hudson is now an EGOT; Lady Gaga is reportedly in talks to play Harley Quinn opposite Joaquin Phoenix in the upcoming Joker sequel. All in today’s Movie News Rundown.
Tom Hanks: Tom Hanks knows that journalists are always tempted to play with the concept of whether or not he’s nice in real life, and you know what? He’s okay with us drawing our own conclusions. “Am I nice? I dunno,” he told The New York Times in a delightful new interview. He also said he knows The Da Vinci Code was a bunch of “hooey,” and alluded to the idea that he might have done it for the money — “Oh, God, that was a commercial enterprise.” Still a fun watch though! Even the sequels.
More Joker, More Gaga: Lady Gaga is in talks to star as Harley Quinn opposite Joaquin Phoenix in the Joker sequel, according to a Hollywood Reporter exclusive. Gaga’s Harley Quinn would exist in a different universe than Margot Robbie’s version of the character — I feel like that’s obvious, considering Christian Bale’s Batman and Robert Pattinson’s Batman are not aware of each other, and neither are Jared Leto and Phoenix’s versions of Joker. One other interesting thing THR notes is that, according to their sources, the second Joker will be a musical.
Congrats, Jennifer Hudson: On becoming an EGOT at Sunday night’s Tony Awards. With an Oscar for Dreamgirls, a Daytime Emmy for the animated short Baba Yaga, a Grammy for best musical theater album for The Color Purple (and another for her self-titled album, “Jennifer Hudson,” which won best R&B album in 2009), Sunday’s win for co-producing best-musical winner A Strange Loop became the crowning jewel for Hudson to joint he elite EGOT club, to which less than 20 people belong.
Adelante Directors Fellowship: On Tuesday, The Latinx House, together with the Sundance Institute’s Women at Sundance program, Netflix, and Shondaland, announced the three Latina directors who will participate in the inaugural Adelante Directors Fellowship. The new program supports the professional development of up-and-coming directors, creating a pipeline to help independent filmmakers learn and grow. Congratulations to the selected directors: Cecilia Aldarondo, Yulene Olaizola, and Nicole Mejia.
Brooklyn Winners: The 25th Brooklyn Film Festival, called the “Unthinkable” edition, has announced this year’s winners including Pour L’amour directed by Andrezej Mankowski, which won the Grand Chameleon and the Best Narrative Feature award, and From the Hood to the Holler, directed by Pat McGee, which won best documentary. See the full list of winners here.
Puss in Boots: Everybody’s favorite sword-brandishing cat is returning to the big screen nearly 20 years after he first appeared in the Shrek franchise. The first 27 minutes of the new Puss in Boots movie screened at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, and according to Variety, the crowd loved it. Honestly, I don’t have much of a taste for animated movies anymore, but I would definitely rather watch Puss in Boots than Frozen.
The Future Is Freaky: Netflix dropped the trailer for The Future Of on Monday, a new docuseries about future technological advancements and how they could change our lives, from living forever to deciphering dog language. Check out the trailer here.
Phone Home: I recommend checking out this Vulture piece, which has a very interesting take on how E.T. could be read as a sequel to Close Encounters of the Third Kind if you squint hard enough. One is about a father who leaves his family to board a spaceship, while the other is about a family dealing with the absence of a father who just left them. It’s an interesting thought.
That Reminds Me: Of an alien movie I begged my dad to take me to when I was 12 or 13. It was The 4th Kind, and although the docu-style alien abduction parts were totally unconvincing, I was still so scared by it that I remember my dad asking me if I wanted to bail on the movie. I refused to leave, insisting that I could handle it at the expense of future nightmares. Does anyone else have formative memories of this movie? The scenes of her listening back to tapes of alien abductions have lived in my head rent-free since 2009:
Main Image: Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon in The Da Vinci Code
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