In today’s Movie News Roundup: Taika Waititi is making a new Star Wars film; we recommend The Donut King, a documentary you can’t see yet; and a look back at the struggle to make Thousand Pieces of Gold, a feminist Western enjoying a resurgence. Also: Someone deceived Tiger King nemesis Carole Baskin, for no purpose.
Taika Waititi Does Star Wars: Taika Waititi, who recently won Best Adapted Screenplay for Jojo Rabbit and directed the Mandalorian season finale, will direct and co-write a new Star Wars feature film for theatrical release. His co-writer is Academy Award nominee Krysty Wilson-Cairns, best known for 1917. StarWars.com made the announcement in honor of “Star Wars Day,” the annual made-up holiday where you prove your love of Star Wars by declaring your passionate hatred for two-thirds of the Star Wars movies.
Distribute The Donut King: This week we’re highlighting some great documentaries that you can’t see yet — because the film festivals where they would normally have gotten distribution deals were canceled or disrupted. At the top of our list is The Donut King, by Alice Gu, about a Cambodian refugee named Ted Ngoy who built a donut store empire and used it to provide a lifeline to countless other Cambodians fleeing genocide. It’s an incredible salute to immigrants living the American dream, and if you’re a film distributor, or know one, we highly recommend it.
A Feminist Western’s Backstory: Emma Myers interviewed director Nancy Kelly about her 1990 Western, Thousand Pieces of Gold, to mark a new 4K release of the film. You can watch it here while supporting your local independent theater. Kelly reveals all the resistance she received to telling her story from a woman’s point of view. She says executive told her: “The problem with this is that it’s girl meets boy. If it was boy meets girl, I could see it.”
Carole Baskin Tricked Into Boring Interview: Two YouTube hosts used audio clips of Jimmy Fallon to trick Carole Baskin into believing she was conducting a Zoom interview with the Tonight Show host. The catch: It’s not interesting at all unless you’ve been desperately wondering how much meat is at her compound. Don’t watch! Here it is:
Irish Cinemas to Reopen Aug. 10: That’s it, that’s the news, Deadline reports, except that theaters will also need to maintain two meters between each customer, which will be easy enough for Nan and Tommy Flaherty, who maintain two meters o’ distance even in the best of times, and haven’t shared a bed but twice in 40 years of marriage — but who can say, perhaps a wee movie might warm the chill? There isn’t a wind that blows that isn’t it someone’s favor.
Silent Movie GIFS: We never want to encourage anyone to spend any time on Twitter, but Don McHoull’s @silentmovieGIFS is truly wonderful at condensing moviemaking history and advice into very short snippets. For example:
The Schüfftan process is one of the coolest visual effects techniques from the silent era. By using a mirror with part of its reflective surface removed, model sets could be made to look full-sized, as in this example from Metropolis (1927) pic.twitter.com/YwDnjIo0J0
— Silent Movie GIFs (@silentmoviegifs) May 2, 2020
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