Britt Hayes is a writer, movie lover, and sensible sweater enthusiast living in Austin, Texas. She watches too much TV and never eats her vegetables.
Britt Hayes
Shots Fired: A Day of Paintball, Explosions and Unchecked Male Egos With the ‘Free Fire’ Team
Sharlto Copley is the kind of guy you want on your side when the shots start flying, though you might not think that’s the case after seeing Free Fire. The first full-fledged American production from UK director Ben Wheatley is a wild warehouse free-for-all featuring an absolute murderer’s row of actors, including Copley, Armie Hammer and Brie Larson (among many others). In a film where every man (and woman) is out for himself, perhaps no one is more self-serving than Copley’s Vernon, a narcissistic gun-pusher who is, for lack of a better adjective, kind of a weenie. But on a stunt ranch just outside Austin during SXSW, Copley was far from cowardly on the frontlines of the paintball battle field.
‘Win It All’ Review: High Stakes Hilarity From Joe Swanberg and Jake Johnson
Joe Swanberg’s filmography is a fascinating evolutionary timeline; with each new film, the former mumblecore pioneer (and occasional agitator) has showcased increasing maturity. Win It All is his most grown-up film to date — despite the fact that it centers on the all-too-familiar man-child archetype. For his latest effort, Swanberg reunites with Digging for Fire star and co-writer Jake Johnson, who pulls double duty once again, this time with much more consistent results.
Luke Skywalker Speaks, General Leia Returns in ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ Footage Description
While we wait for the first teaser trailer for Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which should be arriving in the next couple of months (more on that in a minute), some footage was recently screened for Disney shareholders. That footage won’t be released online, but one reporter in attendance was kind enough to share a few interesting details — it’s not much, but it should keep your spirits up until the first trailer debuts.
Margot Robbie Will Slay as ‘Marian’ in Robin Hood-Inspired War Epic
There are approximately 82 Robin Hood movies (OK, more like five) in development at various studios right now, including the gritty Robin Hood: Origins starring Taron Egerton and Jamie Foxx. Should all those projects make their way to the big screen, we’re going to be experiencing a bit of Robin Hood fatigue, to say the least — that’s where Margot Robbie comes in.
‘Beauty and the Beast’ Review: Even a Tale as Old as Time Can Become New Again
To say that the first trailer for Beauty and the Beast was evocative of the 1991 animated classic would be an understatement; it was a live-action carbon copy, and if Disney’s remake of Cinderella was any indication, we were in for yet another tedious — if visually stunning, well-acted and beautifully-designed — exercise in nostalgia-based capitalism. But Bill Condon’s live-action update of Beauty and the Beast is more reimagining than remake, a lavish and lovely take on a familiar tale (as old as time, no doubt) that enriches its source material without betraying it, embellishing a cherished antique with modern ideas.
Academy Bars Accountants Involved in Best Picture Mixup From Future Oscars
It took a few days, but the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has finally come to a decision: The two PricewaterhouseCooper accountants involved in this year’s Best Picture snafu, dubbed “Envelopegate,” will not be allowed to work at the Oscars again. In what instantly became the most memorable Oscar moment in recent memory (and perhaps all-time), La La Land was erroneously announced as Best Picture; it took two whole minutes (or more) for the PwC accountants to rectify the error and announce Moonlight as the correct winner.
‘Pirates of the Caribbean 5’ Concept Art Reveals Ghastly Sharks Ahead of Tomorrow’s New Trailer
After four films, you’d think Disney could come up with another villain for Pirates of the Caribbean besides water-logged ghosts. As it turns out, the fifth film does have something different to offer, sort of. New concept art for Dead Men Tell No Tales reveals a formidable addition to the spooky seas: Ghost sharks. Maybe we’ll see them in action in the new trailer, which arrives tomorrow.
Michael Shannon’s Karaoke Skills Are a Gift to Us All
In these bleak times, pleasant distractions have become a commodity; we’ll take all the joy we can get from wherever we can get it — like Michael Shannon singing his karaoke go-to song on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. Listen, you hardly need additional incentive to watch this clip (it’s Michael Shannon singing karaoke), but you might be interested to know that Shannon’s favorite karaoke jam is about as weird and wonderful as you’d expect.
Academy Reportedly Considers Hiring More Oscar Auditors as Soon as They Stop Analyzing This Guy‘s Tweet
Perhaps even more incredible than Envelopegate is how quickly the whole thing escalated, and our collective fascination with what instantly (and maybe inarguably) became the most memorable Oscar moment of all time. (To be fair, America was in desperate need of a distraction.) Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty’s Best Picture envelope mixup is the best-worst thing to happen to the Oscars in years, but it’s not a mistake they’re eager to repeat; according to a new report, they’re considering a possible solution, which they’ll get around to as soon as they finish exhaustively scrutinizing this tweet.
You Can’t Stop the ‘Trolls’ Sequel From Hitting Theaters in 2020
DreamWorks and Universal’s surprise animated hit is — unsurprisingly — getting a sequel. The news comes on the heels of Justin Timberlake’s charismatic opening number at the 2017 Oscars earlier this week — something most of you probably forgot all about at least two hours before Envelopegate even happened, somewhere between candy parachutes and that weird tour bus interlude.