Matt Singer is the editor and critic of the website ScreenCrush.com. For five years, he was the on-air host of IFC News on the Independent Film Channel, hosting coverage of film festivals and red carpets around the world. A member of the New York Film Critics Circle, he’s been a frequent contributor to the television shows CBS This Morning Saturday and Ebert Presents At the Movies, and his writing has also appeared in print and online at The Village Voice, The Dissolve, and Indiewire. His first book, Marvel’s Spider-Man: From Amazing to Spectacular, is on sale now.
Matt Singer
‘The End of the Tour’ Trailer: Go Road Tripping With Jason Segel and Jesse Eisenberg
In 1996, Rolling Stone sent journalist and author David Lipsky to travel with David Foster Wallace for the end of his book tour publicizing his great novel Infinite Jest. Lipsky and Wallace spent five days traveling together, and the transcripts of their conversations eventually became the basis of Lipsky’s book Although Of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself: A Road Trip with David Foster Wallace
‘San Andreas’ Review: Seek Cover From This Dumb Disaster Movie
The classics of this genre featured danger and destruction on a scale a guy could wrap his head around; a hijacked airplane, a skyscraper on fire, a capsized ocean liner filling with water. But when you live by spectacle, you die by it too. And so the disasters got bigger and bigger, one movie trying to top the next, until it became an arms race of planetary devastation. One movie blows up the White House, the next one washes it away in a tidal wave. Where do you go from there? An exploding tidal wave? At this point, if your disaster movie isn’t eradicating a large portion of the globe, don’t even waste your time.
‘Poltergeist’ Review: A Decent Remake Haunted By the Spirit of the Original
Everything that goes wrong in Poltergeist stems from an act of desecration; the building of a cookie-cutter housing development on top of an old cemetery. Some might find the sheer act of attempting a remake of Poltergeist similarly disrespectful; the 1982 original is something of a masterpiece of suburban terror. But if viewers can look past the sheer audacity of attempting another Poltergeist, they’ll find a solid modernization, the cinematic equivalent of a decent cover version of a great rock song. It’s totally superfluous, and not nearly as satisfying as the original, but well-performed and effective in its own way. It’s nice (or, in this case, deeply unsettling) to revisit an old classic in a new arrangement.
‘Amy’ Trailer: A New Documentary Goes Back to the Rise and Fall of Amy Winehouse
If you’ve been tracking the goings-on at the Cannes Film Festival this week, you know that one of the best reviewed films of the fest so far is Amy, a documentary on the life of the late singer/songwriter Amy Winehouse. The film, which is directed by Senna filmmaker Asif Kapadia, has gotten near-universal praise. It’s currently at 100 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, with lots of other positive reviews out there that haven’t been added to the site yet (like a glowing rave from former ScreenCrush critic Jordan Hoffman at Vanity Fair).
‘The Bachelorette’ Season 11 Premiere Recap: Two Bachelorettes Means Twice the Humiliation
Conveniently, Mad Men ended the night before the eleventh season of The Bachelorette premiered on ABC. That means, by pure process of elimination, that The Bachelorette is now officially the best show on television.
‘Steve Jobs’ Trailer: Michael Fassbender Invents the Future
All right, so Steve Jobs has nothing to do with Jobs, the Ashton Kutcher biopic about late Apple cofounder and CEO Steve Jobs — except for the fake that they’re about the same person. The twist, supposedly, for this new Jobs biopic, which is directed by Danny Boyle and written by Aaron Sorkin, is that the whole film is set at and around three different Apple product launches. (Kutcher’s version featured a more traditional biopic structure).
Watch Adam Sandler Say Goodbye to David Letterman With a Hilarious and Touching Song
T-minus one week and counting until the very last Late Show with David Letterman and the tributes are coming faster and faster, and sadder and sadder. I hope on the last installment of Stupid Pet Tricks one of the tricks is a shih tzu shedding a single tear for the end of this venerable late-night franchise, which comes to a close on May 20. It’s only fitting.
‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ Review: The Ultimate Car Chase Movie
“This is a movie that strains at the leash of the possible, a movie of great visionary wonders.” That lovely sentence concluded Roger Ebert’s 1985 review of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. Thirty years later, Mad Max is finally back in a new sequel, Mad Max: Fury Road, and Ebert’s words feel truer than ever. Fury Road is an incredible achievement, one that strains so hard at the leash of the possible that it eventually breaks free and barrels headlong into the realm of insane genius. Forget Max Rockatansky; director George Miller, the guy who co-conceived and shot this gorgeous, glorious lunacy, is the true madman here. And the true hero for having pulled it off.
Ant-Man, Vision, War Machine, and General Ross All Confirmed For ‘Captain America: Civil War’
You see the release date in the image there: May 6, 2016. Marvel Phase Three kicks off exactly one year from yesterday with the release of Captain America: Civil War. With the clock ticking, and the Avengers: Age of Ultron publicity tour finally winding down, it’s time to get to shooting Cap 3. Marvel announced today that production has officially begun on next summer’s massive sequel, and they also revealed four more big additions to the cast.
Watch Arnold Schwarzenegger Act Out All His Films in Six Minutes
Arnold Schwarzenegger doesn’t take himself too seriously.
Boba Fett Will Be the Star of the Second ‘Star Wars’ Spinoff Film
May the 4th is known throughout the galaxy as Star Wars Day. So it’s the perfect time for this major bit of news, via TheWrap: the second Star Wars “Anthology” film (aka the spinoff films separate from the new trilogy that begins with Star Wars: The Force Awakens) will be an “origin story” for Boba Fett.
‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ Review: Joss Whedon Assembles an Inspiring Blockbuster
There’s a lot to like about Avengers: Age of Ultron, but the coolest thing about it is the way it reclaims the comic book part of the phrase “comic-book movie.” Rather than using these characters to do something “edgy” or “adult” or “important,” or sanding down their quirkier edges to appeal to as broad and mainstream an audience as possible, Age of Ultron doubles down on its source material’s geeky origins.
The Best (and Worst) Superhero Movie Costumes of All-Time
We’re a little over a week away from the biggest movie of the summer, Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron. In less than ten years, Marvel has built a powerful brand in Hollywood thanks to their great casting, sharp writing, and an ability to distill decades of comic books down to fun, accessible adventures. A big part of that translation process is the look of their movies, and particularly the look of their characters. And that’s all about costumes, which is a particular specialty of Marvel’s. Between Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, and the rest, they’ve got some sharp-dressed heroes.
The First ‘Batman vs. Superman’ Teaser Arrives, Plus Zack Snyder Confirms IMAX Trailer Premiere
It’s been teased and now it’s been confirmed by director Zack Snyder: The first preview for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice will debut on April 20 only in IMAX theaters at a “special teaser screening event” that will also include an introduction from Snyder. On Twitter, Snyder revealed exactly how to attend the event, and gave a brief taste of what’s to come:
‘Terminator Genisys’ Trailer: The Franchise’s Old Continuity Gets Terminated
The last Terminator Genisys trailer was so convoluted and confusing that ScreenCrush editor Mike Sampson and I spent an entire piece trying to figure out the plot of the film. (We were not successful, either.) At the very least, the new Genisys spot makes things a bit clearer. Right off the bat they also reveal one significant plot twist: John Connor (Jason Clarke) has been mechanized by Skynet and the evil computers of the future, and sent back in time to kill his mother Sarah (Emilia Clarke). Also, I just realized that Sarah and John Connor are played in this film by two actors with the same last name. Which, whoa. And, of course, there’s also Arnold Schwarzenegger back as the T-800, but this time he’s an older model who’s Sarah Connor’s protector. How and why remains to be seen, but hey, that’s why you’ve got to buy a ticket. To figure out how a robot can age and learn to a be a good guy who smiles awkwardly. (Very awkwardly.)
Post Credits: Mike Sampson and Matt Singer Review ‘Ex Machina’
Welcome back to another exciting installment of Post Credits, ScreenCrush’s YouTube Video Review Show. On this stellar new episode, ScreenCrush Editor-in-Chief Mike Sampson and Managing Editor Matt Singer discuss the new sci-fi thriller Ex Machina
‘Me and Earl and the Dying Girl’ Trailer: Not Another Teen Cancer Romance Movie
What you’re watching there is the trailer for Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, one of the most acclaimed movies of the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. It won both the U.S. Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award. The reception to the film at Park City was so overwhelming that Fox Searchlight paid a whopping $12 million for the rights to distribute the movie. (Coincidentally, last year’s winner of the U.S. Grand Jury and Audience Awards was Whiplash, which went on to become an indie hit and a multiple Academy Award winner, so that gives you some sense of Me and Earl’s potential.)
‘Need For Speed 2’ Heads to the Starting Line
Furious 7 is the number one movie in the world, breaking box office records left and right. In a totally unconnected and hugely coincidental bit of news, a sequel to last year’s racing film Need For Speed is in the works from Electronic Arts and a bunch of Chinese partners. Get ready: Here comes Need For Speed: Second Gear! No? Okay, how about Need For Additional Speed? Wait, I’ve got it! 2 Need 2 Speed! Oh yeah, that’s the winner right there.
The 50 Coolest Easter Eggs From the Marvel Cinematic Universe
Every movie set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe contains at least a couple Easter eggs (along with a cameo from famous Marvel writer Stan Lee). They’re there — if you know where to look and what to look for (it helps to have spent a lifetime reading comic books and books about comic books and watching television shows based on comic books and you get the idea). For those of you still acclimating yourself to the magical world of Marvel — and for those Marvel zombies who just want to make sure they caught everything — we’ve compiled this extensive gallery of the best and geekiest Marvel Easter eggs so far.
The Latest ‘Avengers: Age Of Ultron’ Trailer Puts the Spotlight on Black Widow
We’re approaching that point in the ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ marketing campaign where it can start to feel like we’ve already seen every big stunt and setpiece in the film before the movie’s even opened. But the new ‘Avengers’ trailer reveals yet another amazingly cool beat that’s never been seen before: Chris Evans’ Captain America loses his shield in battle with James Spader’s Ultron, so Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow snatches it while trailing the fight on a motorcycle, then slides under a semi-truck Fast & Furious-style and tosses it up to Cap so he can continue the battle. Awesome awesome awesome. (Marvel’s going to try to use that as a pull-quote on the poster, aren’t they?)