In a small amount of time, director Nicolas Winding Refn has made a name for himself as a unique auteur filmmaker, building up an impressive fanbase of cinephiles. Refn found himself in the spotlight after the success of Drive starring Ryan Gosling, and if you’ve ever wondered what it’s like being a filmmaker working on your next project after such success, then you’ll want to check out this documentary My Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, directed and shot by Refn’s wife Liv Corfixen. The film follows Refn as he works on Only God Forgives up through its debut at Cannes, and a trailer has surfaced. Watch! ›››
This weekend will reveal the winners of the 87th Academy Awards, and while Birdman has become the frontrunner, there could be some surprises among the major awards, including Best Director and Best Actor. And as we wait for the winners of the Oscars to be announced, the folks at Shutterstock have found a creative use for their image assets by asking their designers to create pop art style posters for all of the Best Picture nominees by re-purposing some of their stock photos. These are some pretty fantastic posters, some of which would have made for awesome official posters, especially that one for Whiplash. Look! ›››
Even though J.J. Abrams is busy working on the post-production of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, that doesn’t mean his Bad Robot production banner isn’t busy developing other projects. The Wrap reports the company behind the recent installments of Star Trek and Mission: Impossible is developing a movie about Thomas Edison, the inventor responsible for creating items such as the long-lasting lightbulb and the phonograph, not to mention having a hand in creating cinema as the inventor of the motion picture camera, making movies possible. Edison was known as The Wizard of Menlo Park, holding over 1,000 U.S. patents. ›››
“You have not seen this before, trust me.” As we wait for Adam Sandler to embark on the first film in his new deal with Netflix (it’ll be the western comedy The Ridiculous Six), this spring brings The Cobbler. And while we previously hopes that director Thomas McCarthy would help Sandler deliver another worthy dramatic performance, instead, as the first trailer indicated last fall, this is a pretty broad, quirky comedy that just seems to miss the mark. Now another trailer has arrived, and Sandler doesn’t even get to have that much fun since he inhabits other people (like Method Man and Dan Stevens) when he puts on their shoes. But this time we get a glimpse at what Melonie Diaz is doing in the film, and she might be the bright spot. ›››
After the initial teaser trailer arrived last year, a full theatrical trailer for the period romance Far from the Madding Crowd, based on Thomas Hardy’s classic novel of the same name, has arrived. Carey Mulligan leads the film as Bathsheba Everdene, a young woman who attracts many different suitors, making her life thoroughly complicated. Matthias Schoenaerts, Tom Sturridge and Michael Sheen all star in the film along with Juno Temple. This one has been in the can for awhile, and it’s not clear why there’s been a delay in releasing since it looks fantastic, but maybe there were some post-production woes. Watch below! ›››
Even though Ghostbusters 3 has been in development for years, the forthcoming revival of the classic paranormal comedy franchise is coming in the form of a reboot from The Heat director Paul Feig and the film’s writer Katie Dippold. And as we already know, this time our four main characters will be female, played by Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones. However, just because Columbia Pictures decided to go in another direction to bring back Ghostbusters, that doesn’t mean we won’t see another iteration, because Dan Aykroyd still has hopes to utilize his gestating ideas too. ›››
In case you missed the action-packed wonder that is John Wick last year, the film is now available on Blu-Ray and DVD for you to bring home. But for those who just want to see Keanu Reeves kick-ass, or maybe don’t have time to sit and rewatch the whole movie right now, we have some of the best parts of the film available for you to watch in just seven minutes. Nick DiNizio (via AV Club) has put together a video that counts down every single kill that Reeves makes as the badass assassin out for revenge. If you haven’t seen the movie, I’d recommend waiting to see all this kick-assery within the film itself. Otherwise, enjoy! ›››
Sony will rely more heavily on its PlayStation and camera sensors business in an attempt boost profit 25-fold within three years, the company has announced.
According to Reuters, Sony CEO Kaz Hirai said that the company will back away from its smartphone business, where its failing to compete with the dominant Samsung, Apple, and cheaper Chinese manufacturers.
Hirai’s comments also indicated that Sony may at some point abandon its once hugely successful TV business, saying that he would not “rule out considering an exit strategy.”
Instead, the company will focus on its more profitable camera sensors and PlayStation products, which it hopes will produce an operating profit of $4.2 billion for 2017/18.
Hirai’s comments are not all that surprising, as he’s essentially reiterating what the company already said back in November 2014. At the time, Sony executives discussed the need to increase margins as opposed to market share at its investors’ conference.
Almost exactly a year ago, Sony also announced that it will sell its VAIO PC brand to Japan Industrial Partners Inc. (JIP), and that it would spin off its TV business and operate it as a wholly owned subsidiary.
Sony’s PlayStation brand, meanwhile, seems to be doing well. Last month Sony revealed that the PlayStation 4 sold 18.5 million units, and that it had 10.9 million PlayStation Plus subscribers. Earlier this month, an SCEA spokesperson told us that, “PlayStation 4 was the top-selling console in January and remains the cumulative leader in the U.S. according to NPD data.”
Following a $20 price cut earlier this year that saw PlayStation TV’s price fall from $100 to $80, some retailers are now giving away the microconsole as part of a new promotion.
This week at GameStop, shoppers who buy a new PlayStation 4and a 12-month PlayStation Plus subscription (which you’ll probably want to do anyway), will receive a free PS TV unit.
Cheap Ass Gamer reports that Best Buy will also offer a similar deal starting February 22.
PS TV launched in Japan in 2013, before coming to the West a year later. The microconsole can play many PlayStation Vita games in addition to digital PlayStation One and PSP games. Through Remote Play, PS TV can be used to stream PlayStation 4 games from one PS4 console in your home onto a separate television that the PS TV is connected to.
In addition, PS TV just recently added support for Sony’s game-streaming service, PlayStation Now.
For more on PS TV, check out GameSpot’s review in the video above.
I don’t know what it is about battleship paintings, but I love ’em. They make me think of sitting under one in a wood-panelled room, in front of a fireplace, sipping on expensive booze and puffing on a big ol’ pipe.
